Nocturnal Survivor: BtVS
by melodrome
Summary: Sixteen characters... er, contestants... find themselves stuck on a deserted island. As discoveries about their atmosphere are made, the tribes find themselves in increasing amounts of danger. [On hiatus.]
1. Introduction

Welcome to Nocturnal Survivor: BtVS. I'm your host, Jeff Probst. We changed the nature of this particular Survivor season simply because about three of our lovely contestants can and will burst into flame upon contact with the sun, so we'll provide a nice tree for them to rest under during the day, or perhaps a leaf.

Now, there are sixteen contestants, all from different walks of the show, but all at the peak of their personality to be here on this extremely special occasion. Some of them are widely disliked; that's okay. It's gotten to the point where I simply don't care about ratings anymore; all I care about is that I'm still on TV.

All sixteen contestants will compete for a grand prize of ONE MILLION DOLLARS. They will be separated into two tribes and be stuck on opposite ends of a totally deserted island where there is absolutely no sign of life, human or otherwise, with the exception of the camera crew, who will relish their lovely, lovely food in front of these fine people while they starve, possibly to the point of death.

Doesn't this sound like fun?

The two tribes will compete in challenges. When about half of the members are voted off, the two tribes will combine into one tribe. There will be twists, but since even I, despite being the host of this show, stopped paying attention to what was happening in it, the twists may not be very good. That's okay. I'm still on TV, so everybody wins.

Except for the losers. They go home.

The series will start as follows: All sixteen characters… uh, excuse me, contestants… will be stuck in barrels and dropped from a ship in the middle of the night. The barrels containing the contestants from each tribe will be roped together, and every tribe member will have a supply stuck in the barrel with them. One will have a map. He or she will be the tribe leader and will need to shout loudly to direct their tribe to their proper beaching place, where the camera crew will stand and laugh as they try and fight their way out of the barrels to no prevail.

Well, maybe the Slayers will do okay. We'll separate them just in case.

But there are three, since we're assuming Kennedy's a Slayer at this point.

Crap.

Oh well. We'll figure it out somehow.

There will be 15 GRIPPING episodes of Nocturnal Survivor; in each, one contestant will be eliminated. The last episode will be annoying drawn out, however, so it may be up to twice as long as any of the other episodes, since it will be determining the winner.

OH MAN. I CAN'T WAIT.

I think that's enough preliminary chitchat, don't you?

Let's cut to the chase, people!


	2. Episode I, Part I

**EPISODE ONE: THE JOURNEY  
NIGHT ONE**

"Ow! Bleeding hell. Why am I the one in the barrel with the tribal flag? The end is sharp, and it keeps almost staking me."

"Oh, that's beautiful. Really. I get to spend over a month on the same tribe with a very annoying neutered vampire."

"Nice comeback, Harris."

"Shut up, Spike."

"If I could suggest that we try to co-operate rather than arguing at this point?"

"Oh, look. Watcher-junior's on the squad. Now I almost wish this flag would stake me. Who else is on this stupid excuse for a team?"

"You've got me."

"And me."

"Oh, wonderful, the Summers duo. This experience isn't going to be painful at all. I can hide under a nice leaf while the Slayer and the little bit taunt me from afar."

"Two Slayers, actually."

long line of profanity from the barrel with the flag in it "All right. _All right._ Nothing the Big Bad can't handle. That's six of us, who're the other two?"

"M-me." 

"Oz here."

"A witch and a werewolf." Sigh from the barrel with the flag in it. "All right, I'm tired of floating. Who's got that sodding map?"

"I do."

"Of course. Buffy's in charge. Why did I even ask?"

"Spike, do you think that maybe you could shut your mouth for five minutes?"

"Harris, do you think you could maybe produce a future for yourself for five minutes?"

"Gee, Spike. That didn't insult me at all. Are you feeling all right?"

"No, actually. I wasn't kidding when I said I was tired of floating. I'm getting all queasy-like."

"That was rhetorical."

"Okay, Summers, lead the way. I'll keep quiet to avoid tossing up the last decent meal I'll have in months, and you get us out of the ocean as fast as bloody possible, yeah?"

"Oh my… I'm afraid I don't feel terribly well either."

"Uh, sorry, but who's the British guy?"

"That's Wesley, Kennedy. He was Watcher for me and Faith for… what, three months?"

"Geez. Weren't a very good Watcher, were you?"

"I'll have you know that I graduated top of my Watcher class, thank you very… oh my. Perhaps I'll do likewise of Spike and remain silent to avoid getting sick all over this lovely sounding rice."

"Good plan. Anyway, according to this map, the tide is taking us in exactly the right direction. Why did he even provide us with a map if our only method of getting there is by letting the tide carry us?"

"I'm not quite sure that Jeff guy was really… there. In the brain department, I mean. He put Spike in a barrel with a flagpole that's wooden and sharpened. That doesn't spell 'full deck' if you ask me."

"Actually, Dawnie, that sort of tells me he's more intelligent than anyone gives him credit for."

"Ha-ha, Xander."

"Guys, if we could maybe cut down on the cutthroat banter until we land. Just a suggestion."

"Right-o, Buff."

"Sure, Buffy. No prob."

"Don't say cutthroat, love. It's making me hungry."

"Oh dear, oh dear." Vomiting noises from the barrel with the rice.

**  
MEANWHILE…**

"Well, that was highly unpleasant. One second I was standing around, and the next I was extremely unconscious. Now I'm in a barrel with this weird awareness that I've been recruited involuntarily for a Survivor show." 

"Ooooh… there's a fabric with a mean partner attached… it's not very kind. Bad flag!"

"Oh, okay. Nice. Perfect. Drusilla's on this team. Nobody's going to let me just brood in peace, are they? They've got to rub in everything I did."

"Hey, chill out, vampy. I'll be more than happy to stake her for you once we get on land. Or better yet, I'll stake you. Maybe I'll even go nuts and stake ya both."

"No, Faith. No one's staking anyone, just as no one's biting anyone. Is everyone clear?"

"God, I hope so."

"Giles?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, that was me. I was just… muttering to myself."

"All right. Who else do we have?"

"I'm here."

"And, and me."

"That's Cordy and Willow…"

"Ow! They don't make these barrels very comfortable for you, do they? They could at least have put a cushion, or maybe a nice blanket in here instead of this humungous box of rice. It's very awkward."

"And Anya… That makes seven of us. Who's the quiet one?"

"Mostly I'm just hoping that I'm having a nightmare and maybe if I don't say anything then I'll wake up on the other team. Or better yet, back home in bed."

"…Okay. I get that I have to atone for my sins and all that, but couldn't that Jeff guy have cut me at least a little slack?"

"Oh, you think I'm happy about this? Believe me, the last thing I want is to be stuck on the same team with the infamous Angel."

"I have an idea, Finn… why don't we both just not talk to each other at all?"

"Sounds like a plan. Who's got the map?"

"…Uh… I do."

"What! I'm the Slayer, why don't I get to be leader?"

"Because you're evil."

"So are you!"

"Not anymore. I'm naturally evil, but I'm good. You're naturally good, but you're evil. That's why I'm in charge."

"And if you get dusted?"

"No one's dusting anyone! Is anyone even listening to me? …Nevermind. Anyway, the tide's taking us toward land. I don't see why we needed a map to figure that out, but…"

"The ocean… it calls to me… ooooh…"

"That's because you're floating in it, lady. Is she all right?"

"Not really, no."

"Mm, I smell scaly little creatures. They sing so sweetly… can I keep them?"

**  
MEANWHILE… **

Buffy punched her way out of the beached barrel first, bring the map out with her. Spike and Kennedy shortly followed suit, Spike bringing the flag and Kennedy pulling out a kettle of some kind. 

Spike unfurled the flag and read it aloud. "The Jeff Tribe." He crumpled his face in disbelief. "_The Jeff tribe?_ That ponce named our tribe after himself?"

Buffy shrugged. "It's the publicity probably. You all right, Wes?" she asked, holding out an arm to help him after she gently punched in his barrel. 

"Oh, I'll be fine… nothing a little lie down won't cure. The rice, though…"

"Don't worry, I'll deal with that."

"_The Jeff tribe!_ What the hell is that wanker trying to pull?"

"Spike, get over it and help me get the others out of their barrels." Buffy punched in Dawn's barrel and helped her sister out of the wooden contraption. Kennedy set Xander free, and moved over to help Tara as Spike reluctantly abandoned the flag on the ground to let Oz out of his barrel. Buffy kicked the container of rice into the ocean and let it clean itself. 

"Hey, look. Instructions," Tara said as she looked on the other side of the map that Buffy had abandoned on the beach. "They say they're for the leader's eyes only."

Buffy sighed. "All right. I guess that's me. Let's have a look."

_Good evening, Jeff Tribe! I guess you're wondering what the next few days will entail. Unfortunately for you, I'm not saying squat. Makes it less fun if I do.  
There are some landmarks I feel I should point out; the well is at the top of the mountain you see due north._ (Buffy looked up and saw what would barely pass as a mountain, but it had to be it since it was the only hill at all as far as she could see.) _You may have to boil the water. There's a sort of outhouse a few miles into the forest. Tribal council is right in the centre of the island; just follow the yellow brick road… or, I guess the rocky dirt path, in this case.  
As you can see, you've been properly abandoned on this island with very little at all. There are a few fruit trees around; coconuts and pineapples and what have you. It's a tropical sort of place. Your friend Spike should be able to find some vermin to feed off of. We've provided you with rice, a kettle, a tribal flag, a miscellaneous cloth for your disposal (though I recommend you make a little home for Spike; I hear he doesn't cope well with sunlight exposure), tribal scarves, a drum (hey, you never know) and a bottle of vodka. Despite my argument that it could be a hoot, you're not supposed to let Dawn have any of that last item. The network's a party pooper sometimes. Oh, and you also have this lovely sheet of paper that could help in your fight for fire. Trust me, you'll need it.  
__Good luck! Check your mail bag tomorrow night. It's up by the well._

"That's it? I could have figured out half those things without the freaking letter." 

"Uh, Buffy…"

"Hold on, Dawn. I'm just going to…"

"The rice is floating away."

Buffy swore loudly and looked out into the ocean, where the small cube with the rice in it bobbed about fifty feet from land. Spike roared with laughter.

"You might want to shut your mouth, Spike, or you'll be the one getting that rice."

Spike calmed and looked at Buffy, startled. "No bloody way. You know how much vampires hate to be in water. Besides, I don't eat it. Why should I have to get it?"

Kennedy raised her eyebrows. "Vamps hate water, huh? Thanks for the tip."

Oz shed his shirt and stepped into the water. "I'll get it. I was planning on going for a swim anyway."

"Thanks, Oz." Buffy looked at the very small pile of things that they'd been provided with and sighed. "I guess we'd better start setting up. Wesley, you feeling any better?"

The former Watcher stood tentatively and tested the strength of his legs. "I think I'm all right. I'll make the fire pit, perhaps?"

Buffy nodded. "Sounds good. Spike, use this pathetic excuse of a blanket to set up a shelter of some kind. It's got to be stretched enough to cover all eight of us if it rains, and it should cover you for the whole day, too."

Spike raised his eyebrows as Buffy handed him the cloth. "All right, love, I'll do what I can, but don't be expecting any miracles."

"Oh, believe me, I'm not."

"…Hey!"

"Just do it, Spike. Xander, if you, Tara and Dawn could wander around and gather fruit, that'd be good. Anything else you find that might pass as food, may as well pick that up, too."

"Sure thing, Buffster."

"Thanks. Kennedy, you and I are going to push some boulders to sit on around the fire pit that Wesley's building. If you see Oz before I do, ask him to wander around the woods and find himself a nice place in captivity for the full moon coming up next week."

The next hour or so passed with barely any conversation, aside from the one Spike seemed to be having with the shelter or possibly with himself, consisting of a bunch of comments like "stupid wanker" and "bloody hell". Wesley tried without much success to light a fire once he got finished making the pit for it. Oz stopped by, dripping wet, with the rice, which seemed to be totally unaffected by either the Wesleyvomit or its little adventure in the deep blue sea. He shortly disappeared into the woods and didn't return for several hours.

Xander stumbled out of the woods with Tara and Dawn shortly behind. Xander was frowning intently at the forest and didn't seem to be paying much attention to where he was going. He came up to Buffy without taking his eyes off the woods. "Did you see Oz?"

"Yeah," Buffy said breathlessly, wiping the back of her hand against her forehead. "Only for a second, then I sent him away to look for a place to lock himself up at the full moon. Why?"

"He really seems to be getting in touch with his wild, wild wolf. I just saw him scrambling amongst the trees, running faster than he probably normally would be able to. He was shirtless and his hair was everywhere, which, I guess, isn't much of a change. But… there was something seriously weird about him."

"Xander's overreacting," Dawn assured Buffy, not looking very happy about the giant unidentified bug that Tara had pulled out of her hair a second ago. "Oz wasn't any more or less Oz-like than usual. Just… friskier, maybe. Like a puppy."

"See? Inner dog."

"I'll talk to him later. Find any food?"

Xander jolted himself back to reality and brought his hands out from behind is back. "One pineapple."

"What? That's it?"

("Bloody hell!")

"Yep. One very spiky, very unripe pineapple. I hit it against a tree a bunch of times, but all that happened were these little cuts all over my hand."

Dawn smiled. "I tried to explain that the hitting it against the tree thing only worked with coconuts, but he was just so determined."

Kennedy walked up, toting a large tree stump with her. "I couldn't find another rock big enough, so I pulled this out of the ground. It seems weird to me that this island is supposed to be deserted, but this was recently a tree. Someone took a chainsaw to it." She put it down and glanced at the battered fruit in Xander's hand. "What's that?"

"Breakfast, apparently," Buffy replied, rolling her eyes.

"All right! I've given up," Wesley proclaimed, throwing the twigs he was rubbing together up in the air and letting them fall into where the fire should have been. "Someone else can try. Is there anything I can do?"

("Son of a BITCH!")

"Yeah. Go see if Spike could use your help. It doesn't sound like he's having a lot of success."

Wesley winced. "Must I?"

Buffy lifted her face to the sky and sighed deeply. "Is it Spike you're not willing to deal with, or the job?"

"Well… he's nothing a rogue demon hunter can't…"

"Fine. Send him to me. I'll give him something else to do. Kennedy, you may as well go with him." She watched Wesley and the new Slayer go a short way into the trees and turned back to Xander. "Okay, guys, I know you looked, but I need you to look harder. We need more than this for food. Also, if you see Oz again, send him my way."

"Okey-dokey, Buff," Xander said, dropping the pineapple and heading back into the forest. Tara nodded and followed him; Dawn rolled her eyes and stomped after them. Evidently she wasn't fond of the woods where the big bugs lived.

Spike strode, fuming, toward Buffy. "That fabric is bloody afraid of me. Every time I grab hold of it, it wiggles until it gets loose. I even tried lying down and putting it on top of me, and it slips off and just lies there about five feet from where I am. It's bloody stupid."

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Uh-huh."

"I'm not joking, pet. It won't come near me. I finally attached three corners to trees, and when I reached for the fourth, the whole thing flew up and got stuck in the tree about thirty feet up. I'd never have gotten it down if wolf-boy hadn't scaled the thing in six seconds flat and thrown it down. It wasn't afraid of him."

Buffy ignored most of Spike's speech, but focused on one detail. "You saw Oz?"

"Yeah. Freaky were-thing he is, too. He looked feral, but I didn't complain because he saved me the trouble of climbing the tree."

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Would you have climbed the tree anyway?"

"Well… no… but that's beside the point."

"Yes, it is. Did you get anything weird off Oz at all?"

Spike thought, then shook his head. "Nah. Nothing weirder than normal, anyhow. Smelled more like a wolf, maybe."

Buffy nodded slowly. "Spike, I think something weird's happening to Oz. If he gets out of control, can I count on you to take him down?"

Spike scoffed and searched his pockets for the cigarettes he wouldn't find. "No chance, pet."

"You're the only one immune to his bite."

"No."

"Spike…"

"You're not going to cutesie your way into this one, Slayer. I may be love's bitch, but I've still got my pride, yeah?"

Buffy sighed. "Fine. Light the fire."

"No sodding way! What if I catch on fire?"

"And this never occurred to you in all these years of lighting your cigarettes with a lighter?"

"That's different. Contained flames. I start boy-scouting it up and three seconds later I'm the one frying up a nice fish for your dinner."

"But the fire would be lit."

"No, Buffy."

"Light the fire or make sure Oz doesn't get out of control."

"Hey, no fair."

"One or the other, Spike."

Spike rolled his eyes and weighed his options. Getting a good fight in versus catching on fire. "Fine. I'll be the werewolf's bodyguard. But you're not voting me off the island, pet. I deserve the cash for this job."

Buffy smiled triumphantly. "Deal."

Wesley and Kennedy stepped out of the woods. Wesley staggered and lay down again on a small patch of grass he'd claimed once he'd stepped out of his barrel. Kennedy looked down at him but kept walking toward Buffy. "Okay. I've strung it up at about waist-height between some trees over there," she said, pointing. "Those trees are pretty much stripped of their leaves, but it's where the cloth wanted to go. Literally. It flung itself between those trees and won't move. Then Oz walked by with a dead something and Wesley threw up again, all over our new low shelter. But it bounced right off. The vomit, I mean. It went, 'froing,' and flew up in the air, and I think it landed in the outhouse's general area."

Tara appeared behind Kennedy, frowning, with Xander and Dawn shortly en tow, seemingly arguing about whether the object Xander was holding was a coconut or a dead hedgehog. "You say the blanket flew?" Tara inquired.

"Yeah, and it bloody well won't go near me, either," Spike added, searching for his cigarettes for the first time in what had to be five minutes.

Tara nodded slowly and seemed to think for a second. Then she said, "I'll be right back," and disappeared in the trees toward where Kennedy and Wesley had come from, stopping on the way to ask Wesley if he needed anything.

Buffy watched the argument that Dawn and Xander were having in amusement, not wanting to interrupt what would probably be the best entertainment she'd have in a month. She turned her head slightly and jumped when she noticed Oz beside her. He was holding a thread of some kind that had obviously been a part of one of the many dead poultry that were hanging on the thread.

"Got breakfast," he said quietly.

Buffy watched Oz carefully for a second. He seemed just like Oz, but there was a little wildness in his eyes that almost dominated the sheer intelligence that was usually there. For the first time, Buffy truly appreciated what it was to have a beast hidden inside. She wondered how he coped. Then she took the string of plump birds from him and examined them. "Wow, Oz. This is fantastic."

"Beats out the dead hedgehog, anyway."

Buffy smiled. "So Dawn's right, then. I was wondering." She put the food down beside the fire and ignored Spike's peculiar sniffing in that general direction. She glanced back at Oz and noticed that he was watching her intently. "What's up, Oz?" she asked.

The werewolf shot his wild eyes at Spike before returning them to Buffy. "I'd like to have a discussion with you when it's light out. I think I'd probably be easier to talk to then."

Buffy nodded after a second. "Sure thing."

Spike looked up at the sky and seemed to smell the air before coming toward Buffy. "It'll be sunup in about an hour. I think I'll turn in for the day. You need anything, have someone else do it." The vampire glanced at Oz before turning away from Buffy and heading toward where she knew the shelter was.

Xander was knocking on the object he found to prove to Dawn that it was just a really spiky coconut and it sprung open. Xander took one look at the empty beady eyes and dropped the dead hedgehog, stepping away in surprise. Dawn started laughing hysterically and lay down on the sand, clutching her stomach. Buffy grinned as Xander approached the hedgehog hesitantly, eventually picking it up and examining it from several angles. "I like this," he proclaimed. "I think we should make it our tribal mascot."

Buffy winced. "Xander, it's a dead hedgehog."

"And explain to me how that's any worse than 'The Jeff Tribe'."

"…Good point."

Buffy was interrupted by a long line of profanities coming from the forest, followed by rather uncharacteristic spiels of laughter from Tara. Spike was shortly seen, hair all askew and t-shirt ripped, fuming toward Buffy. Tara was running behind him, still stifling giggles.

"That BLOODY thing is more trouble than it's worth. I slid under it, but it was too quick for me; it picked me up and threw me thirty feet into the sodding air. It caught me, and then threw me on the ground. There's no way it's going to let me sleep under it today."

Oz blinked and smelled the air just as Spike had a few minutes ago. "I found a cave not far from here. It's small, but it'll do the job. I'll show you." Oz picked his shirt off from the sand and pulled it on as Spike followed him reluctantly into the trees.

"It's… the blanket, it's enchanted," Tara explained, out of breath. "It doesn't like vampires, and it doesn't like to be bossed around. I don't know how to lift the enchantment. Willow would, it's just…" Tara trailed off and tilted her head sideways. "Willow."

Xander put his new favourite friend down and frowned. "Anya." He looked up at Buffy. "It's weird that I hadn't passed thought about her until just now. I wonder if she's on the other tribe?"


	3. Episode I, Part II

**MEANWHILE…  
**

Angel burst out of his barrel at almost the same time as Faith. He started going around from barrel to barrel, breaking every one else out, while Faith stood around with her arms crossed and surveyed the land.

"Something ain't right," she speculated.

"Could it be… oh, say, your brain?" Cordelia asked, letting Angel help her out of what remained of her barrel.

"You think you're real smart, don't you, Miss Beauty Queen? You think you got life all figured out just because your daddy's a rich stiff."

"Uh, hello, kinda broke now. I had to get a job and everything."

"Hey, if we could maybe not argue, I think this little vacation could be a lot easier on all of us," Angel suggested, pulling his fist back to punch through another barrel.

"Daddy, no!"

Angel sighed. "Dru, you have to come out of there."

"But I like it. It's very cozy."

"I'm sure it is, Dru, but we need you on the team."

"The kind flag and I are having tea. You mustn't interrupt the party."

Angel rolled his eyes and pulled Drusilla's barrel onto shore just so she didn't float away. "Fine. But only until you… finish your tea party. Then I'm breaking you out of there."

"Yay! Daddy brings home a treat!"

"Stop calling me that." Making sure that everyone else was free, Angel flipped the map over and read over the letter. He scoffed at its sheer uselessness and was about to put it under a rock for future fire-lighting, but did a double-take when he noticed something.

_Hello, Provost tribe!_

Angel frowned and read over it a few times to make sure he wasn't misinterpreting the text, and then looked up and swore. He bounded over to Drusilla's barrel and punched it in carelessly, pulling the flag from it despite Drusilla's cries and unfurling it. Angel snarled in a vampire-like fashion and threw the flag on the ground angrily. He sat on a nearby fallen tree and stared at the grounded fabric. Willow walked over to see what he was so upset about.

"The Provost Tribe," she read off the flag. She squinted and looked closer, and then looked up in alarm. "The Provost tribe? Jeff named our tribe after himself?"

"Looks that way," Angel said bitterly. Then he looked up and about. "I really shouldn't be this upset about this."

"Well, it's not like you don't have the right to be," Willow said. "It's a pretty dumb name."

Angel ignored this last comment and got up off the decomposing wood and started pacing. He was usually a fairly level-headed guy, when he wasn't off killing people. Here he was getting all bent out of shape over the name of a tribe he didn't want to be on in the first place.

"The Provost tribe?" Anya asked, appalled. "Well, that won't do. We'll have to change it to something happy, like 'The Money tribe' or perhaps 'The Bunny-free tribe'."

"Hey, Angel," Faith called, not joining the mob wincing at the poor choice of tribe name. "Are we just going to stand around all night gawking at a name, or are we going to set up camp? I'm getting wicked hungry just standing here."

Angel stopped pacing and decided to dismiss his poor mood for nothing more than precisely that. "Uh, yeah. Faith, set up the fire; get things to sit on, make a pit, try to light the fire. Willow, it'd be nice if you, Cordy and Anya went searching for food." Willow gave Angel an angry expression and Angel sighed reluctantly. "Okay, fine. Willow, set up that blanket somewhere so Dru and I can hide out during the day. Uh… Riley, go with Anya and Cordelia." Riley nodded in a military-like fashion and set off toward the woods, listening patiently to Anya rant on about the proper process of naming things while Cordelia freaked out about walking through a spider web.

Angel watched Riley go and decided to give the boy a small amount of credit. Despite his strong dislike for Angel, Riley didn't protest the order given to him. He didn't imagine he ever would.

Angel turned to Giles, who was still examining the flag with disdain and muttering to himself in a British fashion. "Giles?"

"Hm? Oh. What?"

Angel frowned. "You all right?"

"Fine, never better. Perhaps I'll fish." And with that the Watcher set off toward the lake, still muttering to himself. Angel could probably decipher his words if he tried, but he decided to let it go. Giles had just made it perfectly clear that he wouldn't be taking orders from Angel, and Angel decided that if that's the way he felt, then whatever.

The vampire walked over to the whimpering Drusilla and crouched down in front of her. "You all right, Dru?"

"No. Daddy's a bad, bad man. He ruined the party and hurt all the guests. He mustn't interfere, he mustn't…" Drusilla trailed off in a fit of whimpers .

"I'm sorry, Dru, it's just that we had to swing into action. Nothing's going to happen here unless I take control. I'm the boss, and what I say or do has to go. You understand?"

"Of course I do. I'm not a child," Drusilla stated with some of the most sanity Angel had witnessed her possess in a very long time. She stood and shook off the wood chips she'd been showered with. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my Angel, I have a something to do tonight." She stalked away into the forest without so much as a glance backward.

Angel watched her go and shook his head in mild amazement at the many moods of Drusilla and how quickly they could change. He turned back to the lake and saw Giles staring intently into the water and not moving at all. Angel watched in mild fascination as the Watcher, without even blinking, caught a fish in a microsecond with his bare hands. Giles looked about and picked up a small, sharp rock and began using it as a knife to clean the fish.

The vampire approached Giles carefully and stood above him, watching as he cleaned a fish. "What's going on with you?"

"What d'you mean?" Giles asked, not looking up.

"You're not speaking with your usual precision. You're acting a little more high-and-mighty than usual, which I personally have no problem with. But what I do have a problem with is that you just reached out and caught a fish with your bare hands faster than I could morph into vampface. I did see it in different speeds than everyone else would, but would everyone else would see would be something strangely akin to a fish suddenly appearing in your hands. It's an inhuman speed you're operating at."

Giles finally looked up at Angel, though angrily, and saw that he was serious. He then looked down at his fish and the rock in his hand, and put them both down carefully, staring into the lake. Neither of them said anything for a while. Angel decided to sit on a boulder next to the one Giles was sitting on.

"Oh dear," Giles commented after a few minutes. "Oh dear me." Angel waited patiently for the Watcher to turn to him and explain when exactly he got turned into a vampire, but it never really came.

"Is there something I should know?" he prodded eventually.

"Yes," Giles said slowly, rubbing his eyes. He looked up at Angel after a second and stared straight into the vampire's eyes. " I don't like you. I feel that Buffy's judgement has been very poor in her decision not to kill you, soul or not."

"Buffy?" Angel asked dimly, not expecting her to be brought into it.

"However, since you are the head of the team, and since I have no intention to be 'kicked off the island', so to speak, I believe I owe you something resembling an explanation."

The Watcher picked up his gutted fish and stood up carefully, stepping from stone to stone back to land and toward the fire that Faith was starting to build adeptly. Angel followed him and listened as he explained.

"I'm not sure how much, if anything, Buffy has told you about my past. I've been hoping she hasn't said a word, but I can't control her since she quit the council. In short, when I was in my early twenties, me and four other Oxford drop-outs formed a fun little club. We created a demon that shortly took one of our own. I realized how terrible the power we possessed was and immediately lost contact with all of them as much as possible. I didn't hear from any of them for twenty years, when two more of our group brought the demon back and killed them. Ethan Rayne came to Sunnydale. He and I are the only ones left."

The Watcher sighed and stopped as he neared Faith, putting the fish down on the wall around the fire pit and walking away, not wanting her to become a part of the conversation. Angel remained silent. "Anyway, you battled the demon, and won. I thought it gone now, totally dead. Nonetheless, the tattoo on my arm that serves as a constant reminder of those years is still there, and since I found myself in that cramped little barrel, it's been… I don't know how to describe the sensation. It's itchy, but in a way that I don't know how to make it stop itching. I suppose I've been acting weirdly, and I suppose I know why now; the demon's coming out, trying to make its appearance again. Eyghon lives on, despite my best efforts. I believe that he's trying to fight his way out of the tattoo and into me. That's why I was able to catch that fish so freely."

Angel proverbially breathed more easily. He had sensed something weird from Giles, and he'd just assumed that he'd been turned, but this was better and easier to deal with for the both of them; Drusilla was enough of a handful. "Can I… help? I don't really know what I could do, but feel free to ask."

Giles nodded. "I need you to keep me in check. If I start to mutter again, listen. I know you can, but you haven't chosen to. If I get out of control, put me in line. Be as candid as possible and don't worry about any balderdash like 'hurting my feelings' or what have you. I can take it."

Angel smiled slightly and nodded. "Sure." The two gentlemen continued their walk along the beach, Angel ignoring the shouts from the woods he heard and Giles ignoring the slight whisper in his mind that was instructing him to stake the vampire with the nearest sharp stick. They walked in almost comfortable silence that may have lasted an hour. Angel eventually blurted the question he'd been wanting to ask since the beginning of their conversation. "You mentioned Buffy before. I'm just wondering what she has to do with it. I haven't seen Buffy in months."

Giles stopped walking and looked up at Angel. "What are you talking about? You and Buffy see each other almost daily, despite my constant protests."

The vampire raised an eyebrow at the skeptical man. "I live in L. A. It's nearly impossible for us to see each other that often, and besides, I left so we wouldn't see each other daily. That was the entire point."

Giles scoffed. "I might be partially controlled by a dormant demon, but I'm not an idiot. Feeding me lies like this isn't helping the me hating you situation," he added a tad childishly.

Angel's eyes lit up as he suddenly understood something. "Giles…"

"Is this some sort of absurd test? Because you're not terribly good at coming up with stories. 'I live in L. A.'… honestly. How daft do you think I…"

"Giles, what year is it?"

Giles stopped mid-sentence and frowned even deeper at the vampire. "It's 1999."

Angel smiled. "No. It's 2000."

Giles turned his head and watched the vampire out of the corner of his eye. "You're smiling, but not in a humourous way. You're not lying to me, are you?"

Angel shook his head. "I think I have an idea. Let's go back to camp. I'll prove my theory and then explain."

They turned and walked back along the beach in the other direction, quickening their pace. Finally they neared the camp, and everyone except Drusilla was back and crowded around the healthy fire Faith had built and lit single-handedly. The flag with the controversial name on it waved proudly nonetheless in the slight breeze. Willow looked a little worse for the wear and Riley was surrounded by ample amounts of some sort of juicy fruit that may have been pears. Angel didn't keep track of what food really was anymore. The vampire stopped a safe distance from the flame due to his increased liability of catching on fire and waited as Giles sat down.

"Hey, where have you guys been? It's been like two hours since Faith said she last saw you drop off the fish and leave," Willow asked, looking happy that the two of them were okay but mostly still looking battered and dirty. "The fish was delicious, by the way. There wasn't a lot, Giles, but we left you a helping." She held up a makeshift plate that had obviously been Riley-made, which held a small strip of fish which Giles decided was properly a sixth. He smiled at Willow and gratefully ate the meal, pleased that she would fight for his share.

Angel watched this transaction and smiled at Willow's thoughtfullness. Then he stated quite plainly and simply: "What year is it?"

"Well, duh, it's 1999," Cordelia provided.

"Told you," Giles said with a smile, and then realized how silly his words sounded and resumed eating his fish.

Willow frowned. "Hardly. It's 2001."

Faith's eyes darted around. "I gotta go with Cordelia here. It's good ol' '99, if you ask me."

Anya made a cluck sound with her tongue. "You're all nuts. It's plainly 2002. It even says so on calendars, and they can't all be wrong."

Riley frowned. "I'm actually pretty sure it's only the year 2000."

"Well, at least we agree on something," Angel said from behind him. Everyone turned to look at him. Recoiling slightly under all the sudden attention, he cleared his throat. "You all think it's a different year because it is. We're all on different wavelengths. I think that if Drusilla was here, she'd say it was 1998. …Or possibly she'd say that it was still 1860, no one really knows what she's thinking. But my point is, none of us are wrong. We've all been torn out of our respective lives at some point in time and brought here, none of us questioning what anyone else is doing here. It occurs to me now that Cordy's in L. A. in my time, but I never questioned that she was still in high school here."

Giles made a noise of understanding in the back of his throat and swallowed before speaking. "A time flux, of course," he provided, looking about. "Damn. I wish I had at least some books on this God-forsaken, continuum-defying island."

"I knew there was something wrong here," Willow said, nodding. "While I was fighting with the blanket…" she noticed Angel's eyebrows shoot up and she shook her head. "It's a long story. Anyway, I tried magick on it and it failed. Like, totally and completely. I tried even the simplest of spells and it just didn't work."

Faith raised an eyebrow. "I didn't really think anything of your magick talk until just now. I just knew that you were a bad ass wicca. But back in my time, you can barely float pencils…" the Slayer shook her head. "This is weird shit. I don't like this island. It's making me actually do things. I lit this fire and everything, even though I know I wouldn't do that in the real world, since I'm evil and all. It's like I'm nice here or something, totally the opposite of who I know I am."

"Bully for you," Giles muttered into the last of his food. Angel overheard and stopped himself from laughing aloud, settling instead for an appreciative grin in the Watcher's direction.

"So what was the upshot of this Willow-blanket throwdown?" Angel asked, sounding much too much like Buffy for his taste. "Is it up?"

Willow winced before answering. "It's up, but Drusilla popped by to play fort under it or something. The blanket didn't like that much. Threw her up in the air and sent her squealing away for Miss Edith to save her or something. I never really know what she's saying."

Angel shook his head. "No one ever really does." He took in the information. "All right. Well, the sun's going to rise in an hour or so, so I think I'll give the blanket thing a shot now, which still gives me enough time to find a place to hide if it doesn't like me, either. If you need anything, feel free to wake me up if I'm asleep, even if I'm hiding under a bough of evergreen." He flinched at his last words, hoping it didn't come to that, and set out into the forest to conquer the mighty blanket.


	4. Episode I, Part III

**DAY ONE**

Buffy undertook the task of lighting the fire once the sun rose and succeeded after very little effort. Wesley slept, curled in a ball for warmth. Buffy left him that way on account of the fact that he was ill and she promised to give him piles of things to do when he was feeling better. Kennedy had started on plucking and gutting the birds, preparing them for cooking and then consumption. Buffy sent Dawn away to get a bucket of water from the well and pick up anything that was in the mail while she was at it. Tara sat on a boulder, staring into the fire, distracted by the bizarre absence of her lover in her mind. Xander did likewise, only with the added variable of hugging the dead hedgehog unconsciously. Buffy thought the situation far too amusing to disrupt and wished desperately that she had a camera.

Oz shortly appeared from the woods, his face much less feral and his eyes back to calm and intelligence with a hint of worry. "Spike's safely hidden away in a small cave near the well. It's not hard to find, but I can show you where it is. We could go now, if you'd like. It's only about a half-hour walk," he said, motioning his eyes toward the woods. Buffy got the message and told Kennedy where they were going in case Wesley woke up or Dawn came back or something.

"Thanks for sharing your wolf cave, Oz. That was nice of you," Buffy said as they stepped into the woods. Buffy eyed the blanket hanging low between the trees and giggled lightly at the mental image of Spike being thrown into the air.

"Oh, that's not my wolf cave. It wouldn't do the job. I haven't found a proper place yet, but I've got a week or so, so I think it'll turn out all right. And it's no problem about Spike; it's the least I can do for my bodyguard."

Buffy winced. "You overheard that conversation, huh?"

"Oh, not really. Spike just decided to tell me all about it on the way over here."

"What? Damnit, Spike! I'm so sorry, Oz."

"Oh, no, don't be. I'm glad he told me, actually. It makes my rant easier because you seem to understand even though I haven't said anything yet."

The Slayer looked curiously at the small gent and was amazed as he seemed to prepare himself for his speech. Oz had always seemed such a together guy to her; she'd seen him worked up about Willow's safety and/or happiness, but not much else. And now here he was, bracing himself to come to grips with the fact that something wasn't quite the way he wanted.

"There's something not right about this island," he started slowly after a deep breath. "From the second you got me out of my barrel, I sensed something not right about the island. I felt something similar about myself not long after. The rice floated away, and I lunged in there and got it.

"I hate swimming, Buffy. I always have. I don't know why, but there's just something about excessive amounts of water that gets me a little claustrophobic. But not last night. I dove right in there and had the time of my life swimming about. Eventually I got out of the water and ran around in the woods all night. It was sort of amazing, actually. I just had all this energy that I couldn't wait to get rid of, but it wasn't the healthy kind of energy; it reminded me of the way I get right before the full moon rises. Very jumpy and mildly feral. I wasn't comfortable with the way I killed the fowl so easily and without remorse. If there's one thing Willow's taught me, it's a love for animals.

"I'm not right at night here. It's like it's always sunset on a full moon. The sun was coming, and I knew I'd get better when it got here, so I asked to speak with you. I wanted to ask you specifically to keep me in line, but it didn't occur to me that I might bite you. I'm glad you've got Spike on the case, and I want you to keep him that way."

Buffy nodded slowly and kept silent for minutes after Oz had finished his lament. They walked at a leisurely pace through the woods and maintained a silence that Buffy found very comfortable. She'd always thought Oz would be a very good person to become friends with, but had never really been alone with him for long periods of time. He was happy to be silent and Buffy really respected that about him. He didn't push for a response. He just waited.

"I've never heard you say that much about anything aside from Willow."

"I know."

"Did it feel good to get that off your chest?"

Oz thought for a second. "You know, it really did."

Buffy nodded. "I asked Spike to keep an eye on you, Oz. I told him to bring you down to earth if you got out of control. But I don't trust Spike that much. I wouldn't let him be in total reign with you; he's too eager to get a good fight in. I planned, and still am planning, to keep an eagle eye on your behavior. I don't know you well, Oz, but I understand the basics of what you're about, and I know you don't want anyone to get hurt, especially at your own expense. I'm looking out for you. I guess I just want you to know that."

"Thank you," Oz said after a pause, "But it's not just me."

"You mean the island's got a freaky deal behind it?"

"Basically."

Buffy made a small vocal noise and pouted. "I don't sense anything."

"You're a Slayer. You're designed to sense demon activity. This is different." Oz watched as Buffy nodded, and then noticed that she looked different than he remembered. Older. "Buffy…" he asked slowly, "how old are you now?"

"I'm 22," she responded a tad skeptically, but didn't ask why he was asking.

Oz nodded for a long time, and then remained silent until they reached the cave. He pointed it out and then suggested they turn back and try to get some sleep. Buffy agreed but again didn't say anything. By the time they got back to camp, Dawn was asleep beside Tara and Kennedy on the warm sand, and Xander was asleep under the enchanted blanket, curled into a ball and with the hedgehog by his head. Wesley had not moved from the small patch of grass he had unknowningly claimed as his own. Oz settled himself on the ground beside the fire gracefully and just watched it for a while, trying to figure out what he had just discovered. He waited until Buffy fell asleep by the other females of the tribe and decided to go up the mountain to see what he could see.

**MEANWHILE…**

Angel scrambled through the woods in a desperate search for something to hide under. The sun was going to rise in about two minutes and the blanket had thrown him about until he'd finally given up, deciding that when the sun rose, the blanket would throw him up and he would come back down as dust. He could simply hide amongst the trees, but the wind was ever-present on small tropical islands, and he couldn't risk the tossing of the leaves aside if he wanted to win this large sum of cash. Wesley and Cordelia could use a bonus back home, he decided.

Eventually, the vampire found himself a massive leaf and threw himself violently onto the ground, throwing it over top of him and holding it down with his shoes. He felt the sun rise seconds later and was immensely relieved that the sun didn't go through the leaf; he felt a touch of warmth on his skin, but nothing to the magnitude of combusting.

Back at camp, Willow reached over and picked up one of the bizarre fruits that surrounded Riley. She turned it over a few times and tried to smell it, but when her face came too close to it, it bit her nose and squirmed out of her grip.

"Ow!" She brought her hands up to her face. Riley saw the event and bent down in front of Willow, trying to get her to move her hands away so he and his army training could have a look. Her eyes started to tear up and she could feel her nose start to swell. "Ow…"

Cordelia picked up another of the fruit as the sun started to rise, and the whole lot of them stood up suddenly and ran away. "Hey!" she shouted as the one she was holding squirmed out of her grip and caught up with the rest. "Hey, come back here! You were breakfast!" Faith laughed indifferently and Anya stood up and started to run after the fruit, lecturing them at high volume about table manners.

Giles, feeling much more like Giles again quite suddenly, joined Riley in crouching by Willow and trying to convince her to move her hands away from her face so Riley could take a look. She listened to them both tearfully but shook her head whenever they suggested such a thing.

Faith stood up and announced that she was going to find something else to eat. She looked around and noticed that since the boss was out of commission for the day, she was probably in charge now. Just to test out her new power, she told Cordelia to go get some water from the well, and Cordelia did so without argument. With a satisfied grin, Faith decided to track Anya down and tell her to do something, too.

"Willow, look. Now there's no one around but me and Giles. You trust us, right?" Riley asked. Willow nodded, and Riley smiled. "So why don't you let me have a look? You know that I'll have a better chance of fixing it if I know what I'm dealing with, right?" Willow nodded and reluctantly took her hands away from her nose, more tears falling from her eyes.

"Good Lord," breathed Giles, unaware that he'd said anything. Riley simply recoiled in surprise. Willow whimpered and put her hands back to her face, shaking her head emphatically.

"Yeah, actually… it's probably best if you just… keep doing that for a while," Riley suggested tentatively. Willow decided not to be offended and nodded. Riley motioned to Giles that they should have a little conversation away from the sensitive ears of that who it involves. Giles put a reassuring hand on Willow's shoulder and stepped away to join Riley by the shore.

"In all my years as Watcher, and all the years before that as a dabbler in the black arts, never have I seen anything so appalling."

"It's new to me, too… but then again, I've never seen a live pear before in such a literal sense."

"I imagine they were… sleeping."

"I thought maybe I felt them breathing when I found them in perfect condition littering the ground. Then again, they was lying right under an evergreen, so maybe I should have suspected something…"

Giles frowned. "What are evergreens doing in a tropical forest?"

Riley raised his eyebrows. "Then there's that."

Giles sighed and shook his head. "I don't like this."

"Me neither. What should we do about Willow?"

Giles ran his hand restlessly through his hair. "I'm not sure. Do you have any idea how to… stop it?"

Riley shook his head slowly. "I can't even try with the resources we have. Or, the lack thereof."

"All right, then. Talk to Willow and determine as much about what she's feeling as you can. I have to delve into the woods for a few hours, and I hope to come back with some minor solution to her little… problem." Giles set off into the forest, searching for something he hoped would return Willow's face back to normal. _The poor girl won't even be able to eat,_ the Watcher thought sadly.


	5. Episode I, Part IV

Buffy blinked herself awake slowly. The light was very bright and she was a little more than warm in her sweater under the scorching sun, but that wasn't what had woken it up. Nor was it the sound of the fire crackling enthusiastically. It was the surprisingly sweet smell of chicken being baked.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, eventually looking up at the sky to try and see what time it was. She'd tried to check her watch the evening prior but had found it meticulously missing, as did every other member of the tribe. She estimated that it was maybe two or three in the afternoon.

"Hey," Oz greeted her quietly.

"Hi." She looked over and saw him seated on a boulder near the fire, keeping an eagle eye on the poultry he was cooking. He looked a tad tired, but he was also apparently quite deep in thought. She looked around her and saw that no one else was awake. She wondered how Wesley could sleep so long. "Smells good."

"Does it?"

"Really sweet, actually. I wouldn't have expected that from such small birds."

Oz nodded. "I got hungry, so I decided to cook them up. Besides, they were starting to attract flies."

Buffy smiled. "I like my food fly-free, thanks."

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"Oh, it's no problem." She stood and staggered ungracefully to where Oz was, sitting beside him. "It's probably time I got up anyway. If I sleep too long, I get really restless when I wake up and I go on an extra-special slaying frenzy, which isn't really an option on this little vacation." She sighed.

"You miss the slaying, huh?"

She nodded and smiled grimly. "Already, and it's been, what, 36 hours since I last poofed a guy? It'll be a miracle if I last 36 days."

"You'll do it. You and I, we'll be the ones battling it out for the million at the end."

Buffy smiled. "Oh, that'll be interesting. Worthy of television."

Oz rarely smiled, but he did so now. He looked about. "Look, Buffy, I really hate to put you on the spot, but if I've heard correctly, this game is about kicking people off the island. I'm not so okay with that. Judging has never been my strong point, mostly because I just don't really care, but I'm barely willing to send my friends, all of whom deserve the money more than I, home because of greed."

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Are you copping out, Oz?"

The werewolf shook his head. "I said _barely_ willing. I'm still fixed on the idea that I'm going to win against you." Buffy smiled. "But you're really looking out for me here, making sure I don't maim the general populous and make more of my curse. I guess I'm trying to say that I won't be voting you off. As long as you're still in the game, I won't be voting for you."

Buffy smiled warmly. "Wow, Oz. I appreciate that. But…"

"I'm not asking for anything in return. If you want to vote for me, that's your choice. No grudge."

The Slayer nodded. "Good. I just didn't want to give you a false impression. I've already guaranteed Spike immunity from my ballot, and if it's between us three, I've got to vote for you, and I don't want to lie to you. But unless you give me a reason, Oz, I don't see any other reason I should vote for you."

Oz smiled at the fire and nodded. They remained in comfortable silence again. It seemed to be a trend with these two. Oz soon reached down beside him and brought up a slab of bark with something carved into it. "Got the mail," he said shortly, and handed it to Buffy without looking at her.

Buffy gaped. "And you waited until now to give this to me because…"

"Other things are more important."

Buffy couldn't help but chuckle a little to herself at Oz's kind and short sentences before bending over the wood and reading it over several times.

**MEANWHILE…**

"Well, that was uneventful," Anya announced as she stomped her way out of the forest. "I went looking for food, which is much less interesting than it sounds when there's no food to be found."

Riley stood and stepped away from Willow, who had stopped crying but was still looking extremely unhappy with her little situation. "You didn't find anything?" he asked.

"Nothing. Not a thing. I thought I saw a flock of the pears run by, but it just turned out to be a bunch of very plump birds. They didn't seem to be the most intelligent birds in the world… I probably could have caught them if I wanted to."

Riley blinked a few times. "So… why didn't you catch them, then?"

"Well, they aren't food. They're just birds."

"Yeah, but there's a trick to birds," Faith said as she carried a pail full of water; she'd obviously made the pail out of an old tree on the spot. Riley and his army training couldn't help notice the mastery with which the object was made. "See, first you kill 'em. Then you cook 'em. And voila! You got yourself food."

Anya scowled at the Slayer. "Well, I knew _that_."

Faith opened her mouth to ask Anya a fairly rude question about her lack of intelligence, but thought better of it and smiled at Riley instead. She kept having to remind herself that being mean to people who can kick you off the island and cheat you out of one million dollars isn't the wisest plan there ever was. "Where's Giles?" she asked Riley.

"He went looking for something to cure Willow with. What happened to Cordelia? I thought she was getting water."

"I tracked her down and sent her looking for food instead. That ditz wouldn't be able to make a sturdy carrier for the water if she had a twenty-page instruction booklet. What's wrong with Willow, anyhow?"

Riley hesitated. "Uh… well, it's interesting." Willow made muffled vocal noises that sounded like she was yelling, only without opening her mouth. "Okay, so maybe not interesting so much as… unfortunate. It's unfortunate, that's what it is."

"Quit stalling. What's her deal?"

Riley was spared the explanation and Willow was spared the humiliation as Cordelia ran screaming from the trees and right into the ocean. She dove under quite intentionally and stayed under for a long time as a hoard of flies the size of her head buzzed after her, hovering above the water and awaiting her inevitable surface for air. Faith forgot about interrogating Willow and collapsed into a spiel of laughter, clutching her stomach and letting the tears run down her face when Cordelia broke surface and screamed again. Riley threw off his t-shirt and dove in after her, swimming at an impressive pace and catching up to her. He yelled something which she evidently understood, and the two of them disappeared underwater. The flies remained.

Willow was so enthralled with the whole series of events that she unconsciously took her hands away from her face. Faith soon stopped laughing at Cordelia and her flies and soon started laughing again once she took a look at Willow's face, rolling over and over on the sand, totally unable to control herself. Willow noticed and her face fell. She replaced her hands over her nose and mouth. She looked over at Anya and realized that she, at least, hadn't seen.

She was too busy staring into the ocean with immense concern in her eyes that Willow had never seen before. Eventually she spoke: "I don't think they're coming up."

Willow's eyes whipped over to where Cordy and Riley had last been seen, and realized that Anya was right; they'd been under for a terribly long time. Too long, in fact. The flies seemed to understand this, too… they buzzed close to the water as though staring into it, and promptly flew back into the woods, ignoring the three women still sitting at camp.

"Oh, God," Willow said into her hands. She jumped and noticed that despite the unfortunate state of her face, she was still able to speak. Maybe not eat or drink, actions that were far more important, but she could speak.

"I don't like this," Anya stated. Faith finally stopped laughing and noticed that the other two were staring quite effectively at nothing. She saw that the giant flies were gone and figured out that Willow and Anya were so pale because Riley and Cordelia had both disappeared. She joined in the staring into the horizon. They remained that way for minutes, barely blinking, refusing to believe what seemed terribly apparent.

Giles ran promptly into camp, holding something yellow by a stem at the top of its head. The thing was whistling and waving its tiny, almost cartoonic arms and legs around wildly to no avail. "All right, Willow, I've found the culprit. I'm hoping that if I cook him up… and provide you with a straw… you should be able to eat him properly, and he might cure your… unfortunate condition." He waited for a thrilled response from the redhead, but when he got none, he held up the other object in his hand. "In my travels, I passed the well as well and found this impressively crafted piece of bark. It's telling us of our first challenge. I believe it says something about a reward." Still nothing. "Good Lord, are you all asleep on your feet?"

Anya finally turned, eyes threatening tears. "Cordelia and Riley disappeared underwater at least ten minutes ago. They haven't come up for air since."

Giles stared. "Oh."  



	6. Episode I, Part V

Buffy walked carefully up the small, steep slope that lead to the cave. She didn't trust her balance because she was extremely hungry, but she did trust Oz's slow cooking technique and expected to quell her hunger upon her return to camp. She stumbled ungracefully into the much cooler shade of the cave and took in her surroundings.

Spike lay sprawled in the darkest corner, shirt off and crumpled beneath his head in a makeshift pillow. A small animal carcass lay near the entrance; obviously a failed attempt to throw it out of the cave completely, and Spike hadn't dared to come near the sun to kick it the rest of the way out.

"Come on in, pet. Make yourself at home." The vampire spoke without opening his eyes.

Buffy smiled slightly. "I didn't know if you were awake."

"I wasn't. I'm always aware of your presence."

Buffy's smile widened into a grin. "You know that's creepy beyond all measures, right?"

Spike smiled back at her, opening his eyes and turning his head so he faced her. "I am a vampire, after all." He propped himself up on one elbow. "So, what brings you to my humble abode? Surely it can't be the comfy chairs."

The Slayer shook her head. "No, I just came to tell you that we've got a reward challenge two hours after sunset tonight."

Spike raised his eyebrows. "That so? What've we got to do?"

"Doesn't say. Just a bunch of rhyming about, 'beware, blah blah, reward, blah blah, beware.'"

Spike laughed aloud. "Yeah, well, we knew the host was a wanker when he named our tribe after himself." The vampire cocked his head and regarded the Slayer with an evenness that made Buffy a tad nervous. Her hair looked more golden than blonde here; maybe it was the intensified sun, he decided. He watched her without blinking while she looked around the cave, clearly wanting to strike conversation but too hungry to want to stay long. He nodded toward the entrance of the cave. "You can go, love."

"Are… are you sure? Because I can stay. You look like you need the company."

"And you look like you need the food. Tell you what. You come visit me once a day and I'll be all right. Daylight's always bloody annoying, but at least I have a little one-on-one with the real Slayer to look forward to."

Buffy frowned at the vampire. "Why are you suddenly being so open about your feelings for me?"

Spike smiled and frowned at the same time, probably something only a vampire could do. "I'm not rightly sure. Does it bother you?"

Buffy paused. "I'm not sure yet." She gave Spike a final smile and walked out of the cave without so much as a backward glance. Spike watched her go and stayed awake for a long time after, waiting for the daylight hours to tick by.

By the time Buffy got back to camp, everyone was awake and chowing down on roasted bird. No one was saying anything because they were too busy appreciating the meal that Oz and Oz alone provided. She noticed a plate made of bark set aside for her, complete with half a bird and a small pile of berries that were obviously found and picked by Dawn. Buffy sat down heavily on the tree stump Kennedy had uprooted and ate undaintily with the rest.

Oz finished first and put his plate down. He looked around at all the faces who were clearly enjoying his food, and he decided that now would be as good a time as any. "I was walking with Buffy in the woods at sunrise this morning when I realized that she looks older than I remember ever seeing her. I asked her how old she was and she said she was 22. She answered the question straight and without hesitation, and didn't catch on to why I was asking. Now I ask her another question: what year is it?"

The Slayer frowned at Oz and swallowed hard. "2003," she said thickly through the lovely poultry.

Oz nodded and smiled as Xander waved his hand around in protest. "Hold up here, Buff. I'm under the serious impression that it's only 2002."

Dawn frowned. "Actually, Xander, I've gotta side with Buffy on this one. It's 2003."

Wesley looked up and about from his plate, looking less pale than he had yesterday and much more alert. "Terribly sorry, but last time I checked it was only 2000."

"Gotta say that I'm a proud member of 2003, too," Kennedy interjected.

Tara looked around at everyone. "Am I the only one who thinks it's 2001?"

Oz smiled at the witch across from him. "Don't worry, I'm still back in the 90s. 1999, to be specific. We're all in different time frames."

Xander scoffed into his food. "Well, that explains the lack of Anya in my mind."

Buffy looked up with a dawning look of comprehension. "I wondered why I was so happy to be talking to you, Oz. It's because I don't think I've seen you in years."

"Oh," he responded with a frown. "Well, that's not promising." Then he looked up at the other Slayer of the crowd. "Kennedy, have we met?"

"No…" she said slowly. "But I know who you are and everything about you. I also know Tara, but I doubt we've met either for reasons I can't remember. I know that we're all Willow-oriented, though, like we've all been with Willow at some point. And we all are with Willow, at our given times… wow. This is nuts."

Oz nodded. "But then the question becomes, where is Willow in all of this? What year is she in?"

"Or is she even on the other tribe?" Tara asked, eyes glistening against the sun. "M-maybe she's exempt from all this madness because she's not even on the island?"

"We can only hope," Oz and Kennedy said simultaneously.

"Well, I think the main thing is that we can't let this come between us," Tara said. "If we figured out the years, we know when Willow will be with the other ones. Or… you know."

"But I'm not jealous," Kennedy responded. "I don't even care. Well, I guess I'm furthest in the future, but…"

"No, I'm not, either. I know this is the way it's supposed to be, and when I get home to my own time, it'll all be okay again. I may not even remember." Oz resigned to putting his thought back inside his head as Buffy, Dawn, Xander and Wesley watched this little exchange as though they were watching a tennis match. When their sub-conversation about Willow seemed to end, Buffy allowed her own mind to wander. "I wonder where Spike's at," she said aloud.

"We'll ask him when it's night. It's about five, it should be getting dark soon, anyway," Dawn noticed. She turned to Buffy. "I wonder if we're on the same wavelength because we're sisters?"

Buffy thought about it, and then shook her head. "I don't think so. I think it's just coincidence. Why is Kennedy in the same year, too?"

Dawn wrinkled her nose in thought. "I guess."

"Well, I imagine the other tribe is going through something similar. Surely someone's noticed the anomaly over there as well," Wesley said.

**MEANWHILE…**

Giles placed the squealing pear into the kettle that had been provided to them. They both watched the pear and nodded approvingly when went from squealing to release it to yelling in agony.

"Oh…" Willow said, looking at the melting pear with disdain, watching it flail its arms and legs around wildly. "I feel so bad."

"Probably because…" Faith began.

"Shh! Don't say it out loud," Willow warned her, still refusing to take her hands away from her face.

The Slayer rolled her eyes. "You're gonna have to come to grips with it eventually, Red. Somehow I doubt this pear torture is going to do much for ya. Though it is hilarious from my perspective."

"What, the funny 'my face' situation, or the dying pear?" Willow asked sarcastically.

"Both," she responded seriously.

Anya still looked disdainfully into the ocean, watching the sun start to set and not shielding her eyes from the orange rays. Giles noticed and went over to her. "There's nothing we can do," he said softly.

"Sure there is. We can wait," she responded, not looking away.

"No, Anya. It's been hours. They're gone."

"They can't be gone. People aren't just gone. They were here, so they have to come back."

Giles put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be all right."

"No, it isn't, Giles! I went through this when… well, someone died, and I couldn't understand it, and I asked a whole bunch of questions but no one would answer me and I didn't understand what death was and I still don't. I don't want to. People don't just… go. I mean, they can go, but they can't go without going. It's not possible. I don't understand." The tears started pouring down Anya's face, glinting on her cheeks with the final rays of sun. Giles didn't say a word, but he didn't leave her side, either. They watched the sun set slowly and tried desperately to ignore the final whimpers of the destitute pear.

Angel threw the giant leaf off himself majestically and stretched. "Well, that was uncomfortable," he said into the silence. He looked down at his makeshift home that he'd been stuck under for the past twelve hours and the vampire inside him wanted to rip it to shreds. He was about to do it, too, before he decided it might be a slightly better idea to keep it and bring it back to camp in case he couldn't find somewhere else to hide in the days coming. He settled for kicking it aggressively, and then he picked it up and started making his way back to where he thought camp was.

He walked for ten minutes before he decided he was going in entirely the wrong direction. He turned and jumped at Drusilla, who was about six inches from where he was standing. "How long have you been following me?" he asked her, annoyed.

"I'm not sure…" she said dreamily. "I only followed the pretty leaf, and here you are, all attached to it. Coincidences are so…"

"Yeah, whatever." He brushed her crazy-talk off easily. Too much practice, he decided. "Do you know which way camp is? I'm usually much better at navigation than this. I didn't smell you, either… I can't smell anything, really. I guess I'm coming down with a cold."

"Oh, no!" Drusilla said, a look of pure horror striking her face. "My poor Angel has attracted an immune system… ooooh… his heart must be positively beating…"

Angel rolled his eyes and brushed past her. "I was being sarcastic."

"Oh." Drusilla smiled and trotted after him. "All right, then." Drusilla followed him closely but stayed mostly silent… she sang to a beetle and cried about a broken mushroom, but was otherwise on her sanest behavior. At least, until they ran into the dead people.

"Cordelia? …Finn? What are you doing out here?"

Cordelia huddled close to Riley and spoke through chattering teeth. "I was out looking for food and these giant bees started chasing after me. I ran into the water to try and escape them, but they wouldn't leave." Her face took on a slightly dreamier quality. "Riley dove in to save me. He was so brave." Riley blushed slightly and Angel tried desperately not to gag.

"Riley saved you, huh?" he said slightly sarcastically. Cordelia obviously didn't catch it.

"Yeah. Without any hesitation. Just threw his shirt right off and swam out to me in, like, six seconds. He told me that there was an opening a little ways under water and the bees would probably lose our scent if we went through it."

Riley cleared his throat and regarded the vampire with embarrassment and less hatred than usual. He seemed to be acknowledging that Cordelia was very silly when it came to attractive males that saved her life. "Yeah, well, little did I know that the cave led to the well. Low water level, mossy walls, no leverage. Fortunately, we could barely touch the bottom, so we haven't been treading water for twelve hours or anything."

"Yeah. Fortunately."

Again, the subtle sarcasm from the vampire with a soul was missed. "So nothing happened for a good long while. It started getting dark. Then Cordy had this idea that we should throw rocks at the bucket and try to tip it in here so I could climb up the rope and get out. It worked. So now we've been rambling through the woods trying to find camp."

"Yep, us too. So explain to me why you didn't just wait a while and then swim back through the passageway to camp?" Angel asked with a smirk.

Riley opened his mouth to respond sarcastically, and then frowned when he realized that Angel was really, really right. Cordelia's face dawned understanding at Angel's words and she looked up at him with an expression of pure annoyance with herself and Riley. "Geez," she muttered. "I wish you'd have saved me from the killer bees instead."

The shirtless soldier's face screamed betrayal as he turned to Cordelia. "Hey! Just a second ago, you were singing my praises!"

Cordelia regarded him with a strange look on her face. "Jealous much?" She turned to Angel. "Let's go," she said, and brushed passed him in the direction that he and Drusilla had just come.

"Uh, Cordy, we just came from that way."

"Yeah, and Riley and I were heading north from the well. Camp's this way," she instructed without looking back. Riley gave Angel a dirty look and ran to catch up with her. Angel sighed and followed.

"Ohh, the wind screams at me. Those two are wicked, they are," Drusilla stated as she scurried after Angel.

He laughed. "For once, Dru, I think you might be onto something there."  



	7. Episode I, Part VI

**NIGHT TWO**

Buffy's foot connected unexpectedly with a root and she tumbled forward through a bush to see nine startled faces looking back at her. "Hey, look. I win," she said, and poked her head back through the bush to tell the rest of the team that she'd found the location.

Jeff Provost sat on a chair probably fit for a lifeguard and smiled smugly. "Good of you to join us, Jeff Tribe."

Xander scrambled through the bush and caught himself before he fell onto his face. "Yeah, well, sorry we're late. Our undead navigation system went on the fritz," he explained, jabbing a thumb backwards and nearly poking out Wesley's eye.

"And yet I'm the only one who noticed the end of the hedge about ten feet from where the rest of you morons pushed your way through it," Spike said smugly, walking out into the arena. Xander stepped forward, saw the opening Spike was referring to, and cursed under his breath. Then his face matched Buffy's as he noticed the other tribe staring at them from thirty feet away.

"Oh, bugger," Spike said as he saw who Buffy was staring at.

"Hi," she said breathlessly.

"Hey," Angel returned, smiling faintly.

"Anya?" Xander whispered.

"Xander?" she said back.

"Look, I know Riley's a swell guy and all, but I think that maybe I should be the one you're hugging right about now," he commented. Anya finally unlatched her arms from Riley's middle and ran toward Xander enthusiastically. They met in the middle and kissed passionately.

"Aw," Willow managed, face perfectly back to normal. She was shortly ambushed by a crowd of Tara, Oz and Kennedy, all of whom were slightly hesitant to make contact, but all of whom wanted to see her. Kennedy hugged her first, then Tara, and finally Oz, who was doing his best not to become half-wolf until after the challenge. Willow glanced from face to face and looked very perplexed about the whole situation.

Spike came up and stood next to Buffy, staring at Angel with matching intensity to Buffy's, but in a totally different sense. Riley came up and stood next to Angel, still massaging his side where Anya had been hugging him too tightly for the past hour or so. "Hey," he said quietly, nodding his head.

Buffy glanced from Angel to Riley. "Oh. Hi! …Oh. Geez. That must be awkward for you," she mumbled. Spike roared with laughter as he imagined the terrible time both these gents of Buffy's love life must be having. He knew that if there was one person who hated Soldier boy more than he did, it was Angel.

The other six participants stood idly in a group, all awkwardly saying hello to each other and waiting for a spirited greeting just like the others were getting. Giles found a particularly sharp-looking rock and started to clean under his nails with it indifferently, realizing he was stepping back into Ripper mode and not caring much one way or the other.

"All right, tribes, if you could maybe separate yourselves so I can hand out your tribal scarves, that'd be great," Jeff called over the contestants. The crowd slowly stepped away from each other, Xander and Anya the last to part. The host jumped down from his lifeguard chair with a handful of scarves that matched his shirt. "Here you are, Jeff Tribe," he said pompously, handing them out one by one.

Faith raised an eyebrow. "'The Jeff Tribe?'" she scoffed. "Man, and I thought we were bad off with being 'The Provost Tribe.'"

Jeff looked hurt. "What's wrong with those names?"

Kennedy laughed. "Are you joking? You're joking, right?"

Jeff frowned. Giles also laughed at the host's stupid expression as he neared the other tribe. "What she's trying to say, you ignorant burke, is that you can't just go prancing about naming our tribes after yourself. That's like me naming my dog after myself. It's bloody stupid, if you ask me," he finished as Jeff reluctantly gave him a scarf the same colour as his pants.

Spike raised an eyebrow and stepped back from Giles. "That Watcher had better watch it. He's startin' to sound like me a bit."

Cordelia squealed in delight as she got the scarf. "Be right back," she said, and hurriedly disappeared behind an ample bush. She returned seconds later wearing the scarf as a shirt. "Finally, something warm to wear. So, Jeff, what's the challenge?"

Jeff didn't say anything.

"Aw, now we've gone and hurt his ickle feelings," Spike said tauntingly.

"Have not!"

"All right. Go ahead, then."

Jeff pouted as he climbed slowly back into his lifeguard chair. Then he sat up straight and looked at them all with authority and superiority again. "All right. Has anyone gotten fire yet?" Members of both tribes put up their hands. "Whaaat? Already?" Jeff whined, then re-regained his composure. "All right, fine. Has anyone found food yet?" Oz smiled triumphantly as all members, Spike exempt, raised their hands instantly and proudly. The Provost Tribe remained motionless. They'd given up the hunt and had earlier cracked open their stash of rice, eating it enthusiastically before Giles stopped them when he realized that this rice was supposed to last them another month.

"Well," continued the host in a way that only a man who's eaten well in the past twelve hours can speak. "Here's your reward: One person from each tribe will be sent away to a lovely cabin the rest of tonight and tomorrow until the immunity challenge, complete with comfortable beds, a warm fire, and a large buffet. Yes, it will have delectables for those of the blood-sucking variety, too; warmed human blood if you're soulless, the best pig's blood there is if you're not.

"So here's how you're going to win." Jeff clapped his hands and a dozen cameramen came and whipped a sheet away from a hefty apparatus. "Two people will compete per round, one from each team. The four people from each team that complete the course the slowest will move on, two people from each team will move on from that round, and the final round will determine the winners. There will also be a small prize for the slowest round made. Any questions?"

"Just one," Spike said. "What the hell is that?" he asked, pointing to the thing the gents had just uncovered.

Jeff smiled. "You'll see. Now, you've been selected to compete against those of mostly equal skill and strength, and Buffy and Faith, you're our first lucky contestants. Step up to these little trumpet-shaped things. I'll count you down."

The two Slayers approached as Jeff instructed. "Count us down to… what, exactly?"

Jeff's smile didn't disappear. "You'll see, I said. Ready, in three, two, one…"

The crowd took a collective intake of breath. Buffy and Faith had completely disappeared. There seemed to be some sort of coloured light going through the mess of pipes, one leading occasionally, the other always catching up. Spike snarled and stepped forward boldly, inspecting the machine. When he couldn't figure out a way to get Buffy back, he morphed his face and climbed up the chair before Jeff even knew what was going on. "Bring her back," the vampire demanded, lifting the host up by his collar and threatening to throw him the ten feet to the ground. Jeff smiled and laughed despite his imminent doom, and pointed to some pipes identical to the ones Buffy and Faith had disappeared through just as Buffy ungracefully got thrown out of one. Faith followed not far after. They both coughed and sputtered on the ground as Spike left Jeff alone to make sure the blonde Slayer was all right.

"Well, Faith won that thrilling round. I use the term 'won' in such a way that suggests that Faith tumbled out second, but she's closer to the reward than Buffy. But that doesn't mean Buffy's out of the picture yet; if more than four people beat her, then she still may well win. That was spectacular, girls. You may take a seat," he told them. He then clapped his hands and the rest of the group watched in amazement as a small scoreboard above the weird machine flipped to Buffy and Faith's names, and then numbers flipped to show how long they took. Buffy has a time of 45.97 seconds; Faith with a time of 48.06.

"Why slowest time?" asked Willow skeptically, helping Faith to sit down as she continued to cough and hack.

Jeff smiled and didn't say a word. Buffy saved him the trouble. "The reason people aren't doing this alone is because they're fighting against each other in there. Faith and I were brought to some kind of poorly pixelated arena. I say pixelated because it was exactly like an arcade game. I don't know how to describe it. Just do your best and you'll be fine," she finished croakily, bending over and sending out a new spell of coughs. Spike talked her slowly through it, and he actually seemed to be helping. Angel and Riley tried very hard not to stake the gent in question.

"Kennedy and Drusilla, you're up next," Jeff stated, still smiling that pompous smile.

The process repeated. Drusilla tumbled out of the machine first, and promptly started crying. Angel hurried over to rescue her despite his strong dislike for the insane vamp. The times on the scoreboard flipped, and Kennedy was in the lead above Buffy but not above Faith.

Then it was Spike and Angel, of which Angel won; followed by Riley and Oz, of which Riley won; then it was Cordelia and Tara (Tara won), followed by Dawn and Willow (Dawn won), and Xander against Anya (Xander tumbled out first, which didn't surprise many). Finally it was the two Watchers. Wesley came out in about thirty seconds, while Giles took almost twice as long. He was in the lead by far, followed by Faith, Anya, and Kennedy.

All were trembling like mad when Jeff applauded the final time and the scoreboard flipped to show who made it to the second round and who got disqualified. He gave a blast of laughter and turned to the sputtering contestants.

"On the Jeff Tribe, people who got to the second round are currently: Kennedy, Dawn, Buffy and, I think this took everyone by surprise, Tara."

"What?!" exclaimed Spike.

"One the Provost Tribe," Jeff shouted over Spike's profanities, "Giles, Faith, Anya, and Oz.

"However, if any of you wish to quit now, the next people get automatically nominated. Does anyone wish to withdraw? Keep in mind that it'll be much more challenging now because we won't be able to match you with someone of your ability; someone like Anya might be set against a Slayer, for instance."

"Did you use me as an example because you think I should quit? Because I'm not. Let's do this," Anya said enthusiastically, though she winced and collapsed into a fresh set of coughs once she stood.

Jeff smiled. "No one wishes to quit? All right. Let's go. Kennedy versus Giles."

Giles apparently wasn't consistent with his standards of winning; he tumbled out of the machine first and Kennedy found her way out in about 55 seconds, still not beating his record. Dawn and Faith went next, Faith winning by a sizable margin. Buffy and Anya went, Buffy winning quite emphatically, too, and finally Tara and Oz went, Tara unable to take it and tumbling out of the machine barely ten seconds after she went in, unconscious. Willow, being in the 2001 frame of mind that she was in, squealed in fear and scurried over to her unconscious honey. Oz realized something was wrong and forfeit what may have been the best run there would have been to help Willow move Tara off to the side.

He looked up at Jeff on his tall chair with eyes unnatural to any human and started sprouting fur on the back of his neck. "Why would you do this if you knew it was dangerous?"

"Not my responsibility. I gave her the chance to quit."

"But if you knew it was this dangerous, she shouldn't have been participating in the first place. No one should have." Oz tried to prevent his teeth from growing out and succeeded, but barely. He was on the edge.

"Look, I'm sorry, but there's nothing…"

"Don't give me that. This girl is in danger because you led her to it."

"Oz…"

"She got kicked out of a machine that creates violent mind images while condensing people into small coloured light. How can you not…"

"Oz, you're wolfing out," Willow said, grabbing his arm tightly. He looked over at her and growled, and then saw that the arm she was holding was covered in a light fur. He watched Willow until he calmed down. Then he attended to Tara, picking her up and carrying her back toward their tribe. Jeff visibly relaxed.

"All right. The winners of this round are Faith, Buffy, Kennedy and Giles. Two people from each team. Anyone copping out?"

"I'm doing this solely for Tara's purpose," Buffy decided with hatred.

"Do as you will. Buffy versus Giles. Go."

Giles came out first with a time of 58.44 seconds; Buffy came out with a time of 58.59 seconds.

"Kennedy versus Faith. Go."

Faith tumbled out first with a time of 56.09, and Kennedy clocked in at 56.99.

"Giles and Buffy are the winners," Jeff said resignedly.

"I forfeit my share to Tara," Buffy said indignantly, regarding the host with disgust.

"And I forfeit mine to Willow," Ripper said. He was Ripper now; he wasn't Giles at night. He didn't care for a night in a cabin because he felt he was better than that. Also, Tara wouldn't have any fun in a cabin alone unless Willow was there with her, now, would she? "Besides, she needs the time. Having one's nose being attached to one's chin for hours mustn't be terribly pleasant," he added with a laugh. The silence echoed around him and Willow was horrified that he actually mentioned it.

"But…" protested Jeff, breaking the silence and saving Willow from being questioned for the time being.

"Shut up, Jeff. Show me where the cabin is," Buffy replied, picking up Tara and following the reluctant Jeff, Willow following close behind. Jeff returned shortly to the others.

"You all can go back to your tribes. I'll see you here tomorrow night, two hours after sunset, for the immunity challenge. Goodnight."

"You're a piece of work," Spike spat. Then he couldn't think of anything else to say, and he waited for Buffy's return before he followed the rest of the Jeff Tribe back into the woods.


	8. Episode I, Part VII

**STILL NIGHT TWO**

Angel, rather than waiting like Spike was doing, decided to meet Buffy as she was coming back from dropping poor Tara off at the cabin. He watched as she stopped and spoke with Willow for a few seconds. Buffy tried to make her expression serious as she and Willow spoke about Willow's strongly unfortunate but cured condition. Angel smiled as she smiled.

He missed her.

Buffy gave the hurt- and worried-looking Willow a hug and set off away from the cabin toward Angel. She grinned outright as she walked and tried to mentally convince herself that it wasn't funny if Willow didn't think it was funny.

"Is Tara going to be all right?" Angel asked softly. Buffy jumped and whirled around.

"Geez, Angel," she said, and grinned. "Yeah. She's just unconscious. Nothing else seems to be wrong, but I've got Willow setting up a mental connection between she and I in case I'm wrong." She gave him a hug. "It's been a while… though, maybe not from your perspective… when are you from?" She assumed that he knew about the wacky time flux thing.

"2000," he said, confirming her suspicions. "I left about ten months ago."

Buffy nodded. "Has the Faith thing happened yet?"

Angel winced and the two of them began to walk back toward where the machine was. "I just came to apologize to you about being such an ass about it."

Buffy grinned. "Ouch. So your tribe is less with the fun than even I thought."

Angel smirked. "We thought maybe Riley was dead for a while, but it turns out he was a big damn hero." He made a face. "Anya's pleased, though. Apparently they disappeared 'underwater' for hours. It was night when I found them. Anya's barely let go of him since." He paused. "So when are you from?"

She blinked. "2003, but I don't remember much past when you remember. I think it's so that we don't alert each other of future events and end up changing them."

Angel nodded. "I know Anya, but I don't think I've ever met her… well, except for that time I came to Sunnydale without telling you about it, but… what?" he asked, responding to the expression on Buffy's face. He followed her line of sight to see the bleach blonde vampire with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Spike nodded slowly. "I was wondering…" he started, and then decided against finishing his sentence. He smiled sadly at Buffy and turned and walked away.

"Spike…" Buffy called after him.

Angel looked between Spike's retreating figure and Buffy's worried look. "Is all that worry because he has a soul, or because there's something between you?" he asked, trying not to sound anything other than observant.

Buffy looked slowly up at him. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Angel shook his head slowly, and looked at his feet. "Go after him," he told her quietly.

She snapped her head around at him. "Are you sure?"

Angel nodded, and without meaning to, caressed her cheek. "I'll see you later." He turned and walked in the opposite direction, toward his camp.

Buffy watched him go, and then sprinted to catch up to Spike. She jogged up beside him. "Hey," she said.

He glanced over and tried not to be too thrilled about the Slayer having ditched the other vampire so soon. "Tara all right?" he mumbled.

She grinned. "Damn. You're all the same, aren't you?"

Spike raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word. "Uh… yeah," Buffy stammered. "She'll be fine. Willow's going to yell in my head if there's a problem." She snorted. "I just can't believe Jeff, a normal guy…" she looked up at Spike in alarm. "He is a normal guy, right?" Spike nodded. Buffy looked satisfied. "I just can't believe a normal guy would put so many of us through that if he knew it was dangerous. I mean, you and I were fine, but Tara wouldn't have been. She has incredible internal strength, but she's… only human."

Spike only nodded.

Buffy clucked her tongue. "Come on, Spike. We're both from basically the same time frame, we know what's what. I don't feel for Angel what I feel for you anymore," she lied.

Spike smirked. "And the staring deep into each other's eyes before the challenge was just a warming up tactic, was it?"

Buffy hesitated. "Well, no. I was… I was startled, that's all. He was there and I haven't seen him since I un-died. It was a shocker." She looked up at Spike, who was pretending to pretend to stifle a look that clearly said 'yeah right'. "Okay, okay. I'll always have feelings for Angel. It's the way it is. And, and you're just going to have to deal with it."

Spike smiled. "I already have, pet. It's always a punch in the face is all."

Buffy frowned. "…Spike… are you, within your recent memory, dead?"

Spike laughed aloud. "Buffy, I've been dead for a hundred years."

"That's not what I mean." She stopped and turned to him. "Why is Kennedy a Slayer?"

"Because she's…" he stopped. "Because everyone is."

"Right. This happened in a great battle. That destroyed Sunnydale. But it wasn't the battle that destroyed Sunnydale…"

"…it was me." He finished for her, a look of slight horror on his face.

"And it k-killed you," she said. They both stopped in their tracks for a second. Spike sat down on a nearby mossy rock. Buffy kept standing and stared at him in fascination.

"Buffy…" he started, voice barely more than a whisper. "We weren't this close when you came to visit me in my cave."

She wasn't listening. She was reviewing their conversation silently. She mouthed the words _I haven't seen him since I un-died_ over and over. "I have seen him since I un-died. He gave you that freaky amulet that allowed you to destroy Sunnydale," she whispered more to herself than to Spike.

They said it at the same time: "Time doesn't flow normally here."

**MEANWHILE…**

Willow stepped into the cabin and took in the fantastic sight. It was a well-made log cabin with no real electricity; candles lit the large room well, especially with a fire roaring in the heath. A long table sat along a wall with food that seemed to cater to her very thoughts. A door in the corner revealed a bathroom that wasn't exactly elabourate, but it did contain a bathtub and a shower along with the toilet and sink. Willow assumed they ran with wonderfully warm water. Fuzzy blue bathrobes were hung on the wall in one corner of the room, next to the large bookshelf with books on demons and also recreational reading.

Willow paid attention to these details only for a second before going to Tara, who was lying on one of the two beds behind a large screen that looked authentically Chinese. Candles surrounded the bed and provided Willow with enough light to make sure that Tara was still all right on all accounts… aside from the being unconscious thing.

The redhead threw a blanket over Tara and reluctantly left her side to have a look at the books that decorated the bookshelf. She picked up one at random and was delighted to read the title: _Fruit That Shouldn't Be Alive but Is: How to Protect Yourself From Such Menaces._ She was about to open the book when she smelled something horrible. It took her a few minutes before she realized it was her.

She put the book down and found a pencil on the table with food. She was very hungry, but she desperately needed a shower, and she wanted to wait for Tara to wake up. She uncrumpled an old gum wrapper she found in her pocket and wrote Tara a quick note in case she woke up while Willow was in the shower. She laid it on one of the fantastically comfortable chairs in the room, grabbed one of the bathrobes and headed into the bathroom, careful to shut the door quietly behind her.

The sound of Willow humming quietly in the shower and the smell of shampoo woke Tara. She blinked herself awake and took in her surroundings. She figured that she was in the cabin, but she didn't remember winning. In fact, the last thing she remembered was giving up quite emphatically.

But it didn't matter. She lay on the bed for a while longer and listened to Willow's hilariously tuneless humming. Tara loved it. She smiled and listened until she heard the sound of the shower stop.

The witch tentatively stood and tested her own balance. She found herself a tad dizzy, but other than that in remarkable condition. She padded lightly over to the table of food and smelled the miscellaneous concoctions. She didn't touch anything; she'd wait for Willow. She felt like they hadn't seen each other for months.

Tara walked over to the comfy arm chair Willow had been sitting in not long before and picked up the note, smiling and putting it discreetly in her pocket. She picked up the book set aside from the shelf and read the first few pages. She got fully enthralled in the book and jumped quite a bit when Willow pushed open the bathroom door.

The redhead blinked, and then smiled warmly and with concern. "Hi. How are you feeling?"

"I… I'm fine. A little dizzy, but… I'm fine." She smiled and held up the book. "Had an encounter with biting fruit?"

Willow blushed slightly. "Yep. Not very pleasant, let me tell you. My chin got connected to my nose, it… it wasn't fun."

Tara managed to suppress the grin that threatened to blossom over her face. "Are you all right?"

Willow grinned. "Peachy. Got my face back to normal." She scrunched her nose. "Had to murder a pear to do it, though. I felt so badly… it screamed and everything."

"Aw. Well, I think I saw some non-biting pears over here… hopefully." Tara was finding her responses to Willow's words awkward, and she cursed herself inwardly for it. She didn't know why. Possibly it was because she didn't know what time frame Willow was in.

Willow smiled. "I thought maybe you'd like to have a shower before we ate. I mean, I'm not implying that you're dirty, but… it feels nice after a night in the woods."

Tara nodded. "Sounds like a good idea."

"I'm washing my clothes in the bathtub, but just move them into the sink if you feel like having a bath."

Tara shook her head. "I might have a bath later. M-meanwhile I think I'll just… wash my clothes too?" Willow frowned slightly at Tara's forming it as a question. She wasn't usually so awkward around her. Maybe it was just the disorientation of waking up.

Willow nodded. "Sure. Take your time." Tara smiled and brushed past Willow into the bathroom. Willow waited until she heard the shower turn on, and then she folded the other blue fluffy robe and knocked quietly on the door.

"Tara? I'm just putting a bathrobe in here, okay?"

"Okay," came the reply after a moment. Willow popped in, put the robe on the floor, and popped back out again, closing the door softly. "Thanks," came Tara's warm reply.

Willow sat down in her comfy chair and opened her book on bizarre live fruits. Interesting, she thought, how she'd never heard of any of these before.


	9. Episode I, Part VIII

**MEANWHILE…**

Ripper sat alone by the water's edge. He'd caught five fish already and had meant to eat them all himself, but Cordelia had become greedy and wanted to share it with the rest of the tribe.

Cow.

He chewed on a splinter that he'd smoothed into a toothpick. It was barely replacement for the dose of nicotine he needed every five seconds or so, but it would have to do. Not like there was any choice. This godforsaken island wouldn't have anything.

Not that he couldn't do without it. He was Ripper.

That stupid ponce of a vampire was watching him. He'd glance over every once in a while and he'd still be staring, not pretending not to. Very open about it.

He was sorry he'd ever spoken to the vampire. He would just stare and stare and stare and not blink and stare and not move and stare.

He was Ripper. He didn't need watching.

Then there was the crazy vampire. She kept coming over and calling him a nice boy. She'd tried to pat him on the head a few times, but he'd told her to sod off and batted her hand away. Then she'd wimpered back to the ever so mighty soul-ed one and he'd told her that it was all right and why didn't she go hunting.

Hunting. Now there was a plan. Ripper stood and brushed off his jeans. He walked pompously toward the woods without so much as a glance at the people around the fire.

"Hey, Giles," a female voice called. "We left you fish."

"Not hungry," he said in a halting British accent, much rougher than his normal soothing voice. The vampire muttered something to the girl and rose from his seat, jogging to catch up with him. "What d'you want?" he asked.

"I thought I might accompany you on your walk, Ripper."

He glanced over, but didn't stop walking. "How d'you know my name?"

"I've been around," he answered cryptically. Now Ripper stopped.

"Have you been stalking me as well as watching my every move?"

The vampire shook his head. "No. We've just met before. I don't blame you if you don't remember."

Ripper was about to knock his teeth down his throat, but he thought better of it. He turned and resumed walking. "Whatever. Get lost."

"Sorry, Ripper," the vampire said, keeping stride. "Not my style."

"Look, sod off! I can take care of myself, I don't need a bloody bodyguard."

"Giles disagrees."

Ripper scoffed. "Giles is a sodding moron."

"I respect him a lot more than I respect you, Ripper, so don't feel real surprised if I don't do exactly as you ask."

"Yeah, and I like being alone a hell of a lot more than I like hearing you talk, so don't feel real surprised if I plunge a sharp stick through your chest."

Angel scoffed. "I'd like to see you try."

Ripper twisted around, broke a weak branch off a nearby tree and came at Angel more quickly than Angel thought possible. He morphed into vampface and caught Giles before he came close to staking him, knocking the stick away and headbutting him with a quick gesture that knocked Ripper unconscious. Angel wasn't prepared for that, but still managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

Angel picked him up and moved back into human form. "I'm sorry, Giles," he whispered sadly. "You were out of line. We discussed the no-staking rule." And he carried him back toward camp.

**MEANWHILE…**

Buffy and Spike finally walked into camp an hour later, Buffy a tad pale and neither of them saying a word.

"There you are," Wesley breathed in greeting. "We were wondering what was keeping you."

"We… uh… got distracted," Buffy provided helpfully, and then looked around. "Where's Oz?"

"We got back and he ran into the woods on all fours. It was quite alarming."

Buffy nodded, thanked Wesley, and glanced at Spike before the two of them hurtled into the woods in search of the wolf. They found him a short time later, up a very large tree, still looking mostly like Oz but hairier around his face and neck. He jumped down from the tree with a batch of bananas, not failing to notice the Slayer and the vampire watching. He smiled uncharacteristically and walked slowly toward them, letting Buffy back up just in case and handing the bananas to Spike. "Breakfast for the others," he said through a growl, and backed away, running back into the woods.

Spike inspected the bananas closely before handing them to Buffy. "Seem all right," he commented.

Buffy took them at arm's length and said shortly, "We have to fry one first."

Spike frowned. "Uh, okay… why?"

"Willow got bitten by a live pear. If we fry one, it'll scream and just… melt, and we'll know to let the others go. If it just becomes fried bananas, then we can preserve them for when Oz is on full moon and is barely capable of any thought besides 'search and destroy'." She frowned at the bananas. "I'll take these to camp. Coming?"

Spike shook his head. "I'll follow the wolf. I'm damn hungry, anyway; haven't eaten since that rabbit late last night."

Buffy winced and waved, still holding the suspicious bananas a fair length away from herself. She walked back toward camp and almost made it when she was cut off by Oz, who'd just swung down from another impossibly high tree. Buffy could see when he spoke that his teeth were fanged. "It's all right, Buffy," he assured her. "I'm not dangerous. At least, I don't think I am."

"Oh," Buffy said simply, not allowing her guard down anyway.

"I'm only partially wolf," he told her, noticing her hesitancy to believe him and not stepping forward. "I still have my human morals. I'm still Oz, it's just… I'm a little more Tarzan-ey." He smiled, and Buffy felt truly intimidated for the first time in years. "I've been jumping around for a while, testing out my new ability, and there's all kinds of food above the canopy of trees. There's more poultry and there's plenty of fruit." He frowned, but Buffy couldn't tell. "It's actually almost as though someone went through the entire island and cut off any evidence at all of tropical environment and replaced it with a coniferous feel. It's not right here," he finished, sniffing around lightly.

"Oh," Buffy said again. Oz noticed she was still in makeshift fighting stance and nodded, backing away slowly. His speech was still barely decipherable through a deep growl.

"I get it. You're threatened. Not a problem. I just wanted to know if you've got any requests for food. I could probably get almost anything, including fish or pork, if you wanted."

Buffy finally relaxed a little. "No, Oz. Whatever you think will be fine," she said softly. He nodded curtly and hurtled his way back up a tree. Buffy watched him go and waited, thinking about what he said about the lack of any kind of tropical evidence. She wondered if the other team was having trouble finding food, as they would be without Oz. He was definitely an asset.


	10. Episode I, Part IX

Cordelia sighed and looked down at her empty plate. "That was swell and all, but I'm still hungry."

"Tell me about it," Anya commented, looking longingly at Giles' share of the fish. "I don't think I've ever been hungry before, and now there's just too much of it."

Riley looked over. Anya had finally stopped hugging him, for which he was very grateful, and he was finally starting to dry off despite the fun whirl through the weird machine. "You've lived 1100 years and you've never been hungry?"

She shook her head. "As a vengeance demon, I didn't need to eat. I did occasionally, but it was purely recreational, or reward for vengeance well carried out. Then when Cordelia made me human, I recognized the feeling for what it was and instantly found food the second I felt it. I don't like hunger."

"What about when you were human, before you became a demon?" Faith asked.

Anya's eyes widened and she looked at Faith accusingly. "Don't talk about that!" she yelled, and ran from her seat into the woods, still holding her plate.

They all watched her go, Faith looked especially suspicious, and eventually Riley turned to Cordelia. "I didn't know you were the one who made her human," he said.

She nodded. "Anya told Xander who later told me about it. He and I had just broken up, and I was pretty angry at him and my so-called friends like Harmony who hated me for dating a loser like him."

"Xander's not a loser!" came a strangled scream from deep inside the forest.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Anyway, there was a new girl named Anya at school, and she decided that Harmony was a dolt and that I was all right because I had a Prada bag." She sighed nostalgically. "She talked to me about Xander and I said, 'I wish Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale'. The wish was carried out, but no one ever told me how it was reversed or how she lost her powers."

Riley frowned. "How did you get from 'I hate Xander and Harmony' to wishing about Buffy?"

Cordelia waved a hand and said simply, "Don't ask."

Angel took this opportunity to emerge from the forest carrying a very unconscious Giles. "Geez, Angel," Faith said huskily. "What'd he do, try and stake you?"

"Pretty much," he said, and set him on the sand. Anya, sensing that the conversation was no longer about her, tentatively came back out of the woods and sat down, avoiding Riley's eye.

"What was wrong with him, Angel?" Cordelia asked. "He was all, mad or something. Anya told him he had fish and he stormed off into the woods with you following him."

Angel glanced at Cordelia, and then at the rest of the people. "Cordy, remember Giles' history?"

Cordelia frowned. "Sure… bad-ass teenager, dropped out of Oxford to raise a demon that killed one and eventually three of his friends… kinda hard to forget." She looked up at the vampire and wrinkled her nose. "And since when do you call me Cordy?" she asked.

Angel frowned, too. "Force of habit. You'll find out eventually," he muttered. Then he sat down with the rest. "This island is damn weird. We're all from different time frames, the fruit are actually demons that I've never, ever heard of before in all my two and a half centuries of existence, and I'm not sensing things the way I usually do. It's all… clouded, or something." He beckoned at Giles. "He knows this firsthand; he's turning into an alternate reality version of himself; this is what would be of Giles if he'd never straightened himself out. He's Ripper at night."

"What does that mean? For him, I mean?" Riley asked. Anya made sure no one was looking and then grabbed Giles' plate and emptied it promptly.

Angel sighed and ran a hand through his slowly drooping hair, having no mousse or anything with him at all. "I'm not sure. I only know his history; I don't know any otherworldly stuff that he's feeding off." This term made his stomach scream, and he realized he hadn't eaten in 24 hours. He ignored the hungry sensation and shook his head. "I was watching him last night, catching the fish. Even I can't move that fast, including in L. A."

"What do you mean?" Faith asked.

"In Sunnydale, vampires can't move as quickly as they should be able to. I couldn't jump buildings or move faster than you can blink in Sunnydale, but I can in L. A. I think it's the Hellmouth, but it may also depend on the vampire. I haven't been to Sunnydale in a few months, so I haven't tried. It takes a lot of strength," he admitted. "Lots of vampires just don't bother with the fast moving." He cleared his throat and went back on topic. "So I approached Giles, and he seemed in his right mind, mostly. He and I went for a walk and talked. I thought he'd been turned, but he's still perfectly human."

"So… does that mean Ripper's human?" Riley asked.

"I think so," Angel responded slowly. "For the most part, anyway. Otherwise I'd be able to see, or under normal circumstances, sense his demon side." He hesitated. "But that doesn't mean that Ripper's not worshipping any demons that give him strength or speed." He rolled back his sleeve to reveal the arm that he'd blocked Giles' hand with. There was a huge black bruise on his arm. Cordelia winced and looked away. Faith nodded appreciatively.

"Vamps don't bruise easy," she said. "I'd have a hard time delivering a blow like that."

"And I was just blocking his stake," he said. "If he'd gotten me, I think I would have flown about fifty feet before turning to dust." He rolled his sleeve back down and Cordelia could look again.

"But then why is he unconscious?" she asked.

Angel shook his head. "I don't know. I think probably Ripper tried to stake me, but I hit Giles, who was already weak from the multi-worldly expedition." He turned and sighed at Giles. "Poor man. I don't think he's going to last very long."

"Well, as long as he keeps bringing us food, he can't be all evil," Anya proclaimed, putting Giles' now empty plate down.

Angel looked up at her. "The problem is, though, that next time, it won't be so easy to get him to give up the food. Those fish were meant to be all from him; I heard him muttering to himself about it. If he's this strong, and if he ever realizes it, then we're all in big trouble, because I'm not sure I can stop him."

"Without hitting him," Faith added.

"If he's unconscious, then he's not going to be a help to anyone," Angel pointed out.

"But he was Giles earlier," Cordelia said. "During the day, he was fine."

Angel nodded. "Giles said something about it being at night. He's probably fine during the day."

"So he can still get us food!" Anya said.

"Unless he has a concussion," Faith said again, enjoying the conversation. "Besides, he can't move that fast during the day. I'd have to do it, and I'm not real enthused about jumping in the water to grab fish."

Angel looked around at all of them. "There's another discussion we need to have," he said quietly, "about if we lose immunity."

"There's an optimist for you," Cordelia said, looking weary about the whole thing.

"Cordy, it's fifty-fifty. We have to plan." He looked at all of them again and spoke softly. "If we go to tribal council tomorrow night, I won't be voting for any of you." Near the end of the phrase he looked right at Riley, so he understood that despite their conflicts, they were on decent terms here. "I think that we should make a temporary pact that we'll vote for Giles. He's a good man, but not here. We're all in danger if he stays."

Anya swore. It was a tad uncharacteristic. Everyone looked up and she looked back at them all as though challenging them. "Oh, sorry," she said sarcastically. "I'd… already thought about this, that's all. I was going to vote for Drusilla."

Angel sat up straight and looked around, frowning. "Where is Drusilla?" he asked.

"I haven't seen her since the challenge," Faith said. "I don't think she came back with us."

"Shit," Angel muttered and got up from his seat quickly. "I'm going looking for her." He regarded Faith and Riley carefully. "If Ripper wakes up, hit him before he can hit you. He's best unconscious right now. If Giles wakes up, which I find doubtful until morning, give him water and time, and explain what I explained to you." He started to walk swiftly into the woods when Cordelia called after him.

"Angel, why aren't you evil?"

He turned around and looked at her. "I mean, I'm not complaining," she added hastily, "but it's weird. If Giles is evil, why aren't you?"

He shook his head. "I don't know," he said simply, and turned away.

**DAY TWO**

Giles sat up abruptly. His eyes darted around as he realized that the sun had only just come up. Most of the tribe was sleeping beneath the no-vampires-allowed blanket, but Riley and Faith remained awake by the last cinders of the fire.

"Good morning," Riley greeted, less than convincingly. "How're you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit in the head with an anvil."

Faith shook her head. "Just headbutted by a vampire who you tried to stake."

Giles' memories of the night before came rushing back. "Oh, God," he said, and buried his face in his hands. "Where is he?"

"Went to look for Drusilla. She disappeared."

Giles shook his head and looked up at the Slayer. "I'm very sorry to the both of you. I can't… help it. It just happens. I'd understand if you voted me off."

Riley shook his head. "I'm voting for Drusilla. Angel made a very convincing case that we should vote for you because otherwise we're all in danger, but I don't like Angel, so I'm not going to do as he says. Besides, I think that an insane vampire is quite a bit more threatening than Ripper."

Giles shook his head. "You're wrong."

Faith sighed. "Well, whatever, Giles. We've always been five by five, you know? Even when I went evil, you didn't do anything rash. I ain't votin' for ya just because you go crazy at night. You pitch in and get us food, while Drusilla hangs her head and squeals about nothing. In my eyes, we're good. Me and Angel and soldier boy here will keep an eye out for ya, stop ya if you do anything wrong."

Giles nodded sullenly. "Thank you."

"Do you want anything? Anya ate your fish."

Giles shook his head and lay back down. "I think I'd rather sleep at this point."

Riley nodded. "I think I'll do the same."

"I'm good here. Keep an eye out for the rest of the tribe, y'know? Just in case somethin' comes up," Faith said as she sat down on the sand. Riley nodded and left the Slayer to her own devices.  



	11. Episode I, Part X

**MEANWHILE…**

Willow blinked herself awake. The sun was streaming in through the high windows of the cabin. She figured it was probably past noon, but she didn't want to move to find out. Too comfortable. 

She felt light breath on her neck. She closed her eyes again and smiled at Tara's presence behind her. The two of them has passed a lovely evening full of eating too much and researching the bizarre island, since the reference books held little else. Tara had been much more comfortable once she'd showered.

But nothing had "happened". Willow was hesitant to because of how Oz and Kennedy were on the same team as Tara was, and though Willow loved Tara dearly, she wasn't a terribly good liar. Tara understood and respected that, and they'd just enjoyed being in each other's presence, laughing at their respective tribe's anecdotes and generally having a ball.

They'd both stayed up until the sun rose, researching and talking. They felt very close, and Willow realized that their timelines probably matched. _I shouldn't know Kennedy,_ she thought. _I shouldn't remember who she is or how we… we have a relationship. I'm aware that she's an after-Tara thing, but… what happened to Tara?_ She shook off these thoughts as best as she could and concentrated on the research.

Tara had finally fallen into bed at about five in the morning and fallen asleep instantly; Willow had gone to her own bed and stared at the ceiling. The whole "Mystical Island" thing was too intriguing, and she decided that she'd better write down everything they'd found and give it to the others on their tribes. So she'd stayed up quite a bit longer, and it was past mid-morning by the time she'd finished. Finally exhausted, she'd stumbled into bed and it wasn't until right now that she realized it wasn't her bed; she'd fallen into bed with Tara. 

_Whoops,_ she thought amusedly and slowly sat up. She still felt very tired, but she was hungry, and they had all day. She could nap later if she felt like it.

Last night Willow had ventured into the small chest of drawers and had found two pairs of oversized flannel pyjamas, among other things. Willow felt grateful for them now as she threw the blankets off her and was ambushed by a wave of cold. She rolled out of bed and winced at her feet against the icy floor and walked over toward the fire. 

They'd tried to put it out before going to be last night. They'd blown on it, snuffed it out, thrown a bunch of water on it and even tried magic. But nothing worked. It popped right back up again. They looked for a switch or something before they realized there was no electricity in the cabin. So they left it on and went to bed laughing.

Now it was out. Willow wasn't surprised. She found a book of matches and threw one into the heath, and it ignited instantly. She wasn't surprised.

_Who knew this Survivor thing would be full of lack of surprises,_ she thought to herself and giggled softly as she looked up at the clock. 2pm. She'd slept longer than she thought.

"Is that fire still on?" asked a voice from behind Willow. She whirled around and smiled at Tara.

"No, it was out. I just re-lit it."

"Good. I'm freezing," she said, shivering as she padded up to where Willow stood. They both stared at the fire motionlessly for a few minutes. Eventually Tara spoke: "What timeline are you from?"

Willow looked over at Tara and smiled. "Yours. Ours. We're… at the same time. At least, I think… Riley just left Buffy where I come from."

Tara sighed with relief. "That's exactly where I'm from." Then she fell silent for a while longer. "Why do you know Kennedy?"

Willow looked at Tara quickly. "I don't know. She's a part of my future. That's all I can really conjure."

"A-and I'm not," she added, trying not to sound needy or disappointed.

"Tara, it's not that. I'm sure there…"  
_flash  
tara  
bedroom  
bullet__  
"your shirt…"  
_  
"…I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason or, or something," she finished, choking on her words. She smiled disjointedly at Tara and disappeared into the bathroom. After a few seconds of clanking around, Willow came out with a tiny clothing tree with their clothes pinned to it and placed it in front of the fire. "I'm going to have a bath, if that's okay," she said, voice wavering. Then, without waiting for response, Willow was back in the bathroom, closing the door lightly.

Tara knew the look that Willow's face just sported. She used to see it on her mother all the time.

She wished she knew what Willow had just seen.

**MEANWHILE…**

"Ooooh…"

"Drusilla. Shut. Up." Angel said, almost willing to throw the leaf off the both of them and catch on fire just to escape her.

"Ooooh… it's too stuffy… I don't like it…"

"You've said that already."

"Oooooh…."

Angel sighed and tried to block her out, which was kind of difficult since they were both sort of piled on top of each other. He'd found her wandering through the woods, calling for mummy (Angel assumed she meant Darla, even though technically she was Dru's grandmummy) and crying in a tree. Angel threw himself up, got her down, and hid her under a leaf with him just as sun broke horizon.

"I thought you'd have had at least enough sense left to hide from the sun," he told her as he threw the oversized leaf over the both of them.

After a pause, Drusilla had responded quietly with "I don't like it here."

"So you'd rather be dust?" he asked sarcastically.

She remained silent. Angel understood that she probably would rather be dust than be on this island. Nothing good to eat, no humans to torture… it's probably her version of hell. Hell itself… now, there's a place where she'd have fun.

He could finally smell the sun start to retreat. The both of them remained completely still and silent for the next half hour with the occasional moan from Drusilla. The second the sun disappeared, Angel threw the leaf off them and they both stood. Drusilla did a very lazy dance and spoke to a lonely squirrel as it climbed the tree. She wasn't, however, fast enough to catch it.

Angel looked around. "Where the hell are we?"

Drusilla turned around and once again sported perfect sanity in her eyes. "Tribe's that way," she told him. "Council's that way. We're damned close to there, we may as well just meet them there." Angel watched her and waited for her to beckon which one was where, since she didn't point in any direction when she told him where they were. She didn't. Her eyes reverted to a pleading form. "My Angel… I want to go home. The clock is all funny, and there's no treats." She whined and wrapped her arms around Angel's middle. He protested and tried to throw her off him, but to no avail.

"You really want to go home?"

"Yeah…" she whispered into his duster.

He nodded. "I'll vote for you."

She looked up at him with sparkling eyes. "Thank you." Then she turned and trotted away. "Off to try! Off to go!" Angel shook his head and decided to follow her, trusting, probably foolishly, that she knew where she was going.


	12. Episode I, Part XI

**NIGHT THREE**

"There you guys are," Cordelia said as she and the rest of the tribe walked into camp. "We were waiting for you, but we decided against waiting any longer because we figured maybe Drusilla put a stake through your heart or whatever."

"Wouldn't that be a bloody shame," Ripper interjected. Riley shook his head.

"He wanted to apologize, but now he's evil again, so I guess I get to do it for him."

Angel nodded. "It's fine. I get it. I know what it's like to have a demon inside." He looked around a little bit and saw that Drusilla was tiptoeing through the flowers at the other end of the challenge area. "I think we should change our vote. I talked to Drusilla and she wants to go home, and I know I want her gone."

"Here, here," agreed Anya.

"Is it agreed, then?" Angel asked.

"Only if we lose, Mr. Negative," Cordelia countered.

Willow and Tara walked into the circle, laughing about something, looking well-rested and very clean. Angel noticed incredible mourning in Willow's eyes, but decided not to say anything about it until later.

"Have fun?" Cordelia asked.

"I'll bet they did," Ripper muttered.

"It was great," said Tara. "Food was fantastic, nice comfy beds, hot bath…" she looked around at the slightly bitter faces. "…but I won't go into detail." The Jeff Tribe entered. "L-look!" she said. "My tribe. I will go… to them, and avoid this awkward situation." She gave Willow a hug. "See you later."

"Bye," Willow said quietly. Angel's concern for the redhead was curbed as Buffy walked in, talking intently with Spike. He watched them, trying to catch Buffy's eye. She didn't notice.

Jeff walked in holding a bronze statue of himself. He placed it on one of the two tables no one had noticed until just now. "Hello, tribes. How's life?"

No one answered.

"Well…" he cleared his throat. "The network has informed me that I have to apologize, so a heartfelt 'I'm sorry' to Tara, and anyone else who got injured or whatever in that last challenge."

Total silence.

Jeff sighed. "Anyway, this next challenge is for immunity. Because of the common controversy caused yesterday night, your goal is fairly simple." He beckoned at the two tables. "Each table will get a new product that has never been sold or marketed. Your job is to create a jingle for it."

"Bloody hell," Spike and Ripper said simultaneously.

Jeff didn't hear. "So here's your product:" He held up a small package with what looked to be pastries in it. "Para-cakes."

"Para-cakes?" Buffy repeated.

"Para-cakes," Jeff confirmed, nodding.

"Why exactly are they called Para-cakes?" asked Xander.

Jeff frowned. "I don't know. Maybe they look like parachutes?" He shook his head. "Anyway, you each have fifteen minutes to perfect a jingle. We have a panel of judges, and the tribe who gets the highest score wins immunity."

"Don't tell me that thing's immunity," Faith said, beckoning at the statue of Jeff.

"So what if it is? I won't have any complaining this time. This game is about me. Me me me. I created the series, and now they want to hire someone else? I don't think so." He looked around at the annoyed faces staring back at him and frowned sadly. "Fine. Your fifteen minutes starts now. Go."

The time passed quickly. Occasionally Spike would go "this is sodding stupid" or Ripper would start yelling at one of his fellow tribesmen. Buffy yelled for silence and concentration once or twice, and Drusilla wanted to make the song about her little beetle friend who she just found on the ground and named Poodle. Oz's strange growl punctuated the light rumble of talk, and he had to fight off the urge more than once to kill some small animals.

"Time's up," Jeff finally announced. "Step away from the papers. Bring in the judges," he told no one in particular.

Three people walked in. They sat down mechanically and grinned at the people they related most to.

"Joyce Summers, Richard Wilkins III, and Jenny Calendar: Welcome," Jeff announced.

Buffy and Dawn gasped; they both remember their mother as dead. Faith stepped back and frowned, and Giles' jaw dropped shortly followed by a grin. He was Giles now; Ripper had left temporarily. Angel looked away.

"Any particular reason you chose all dead people?" Spike asked.

"Not really. Wanted to cause ruckus, I guess," Jeff said, shrugging. "All right, tribes, you will now collectively perform your jingles for the panel of judges. They'll vote on a scale of ten, and then they'll leave before you have a chance to talk to them."

"That's unfair," pointed out Dawn. Ripper replaced Giles.

Jeff scoffed. "Right. Because Survivor is a fair game," he said sarcasically. "Let's see… Provost tribe, why don't you go first."

Angel frowned and strongly didn't want to do anything. He stood there and brooded. None of the tribe moved forward to collect the sheet.

"Come on, now… if you don't, I'll send you all home."

Cordelia reluctantly stepped forward and held the sheet out for them all to see. A tuneless cacophony emerged:

_"Para-cakes, Para-cakes,  
Yum yum yum.  
If you're hungry  
Go have some.  
Full of love  
And fun to eat,  
Para-cakes, para-cakes;  
Just don't heat."_

They'd all sung it. Or, possibly "sung" wasn't the correct term; Riley and Angel had said it, Drusilla had wailed it, and the rest had chanted. Ripper had mouthed the words bitterly but hadn't actually spoken; fortunately, Jeff didn't notice. 

"Oh… kaaaaay," Jeff said, fighting back laughter. "That was… well, that was interesting. Judges, vote away."

Three cards came up. They all said 3.

"That's nine out of thirty. Good work," Jeff said sarcastically. "Jeff Tribe, you're up."

Tara stepped forward hesitantly and grabbed their page. She held it out in front of her, cleared her voice, and began to sing beautifully with the rest of the tribe, including Spike and Oz, whose growl sounded like a gorgeous base tone, backing her up:

_"If you're hungry after work…  
(doo doo doo)  
Don't reach for that bag of chi-ips…  
(doooooo dah)  
Grab a pack of Para-cakes and savour them well…  
(bop doo dah)  
With their crunchy ex-ter-ior they're pretty darn swell.  
(shoop!)"_

Jeff applauded. So did the judges. Half of the Provost Tribe grinned and clapped as well, while the other half (with the exception of Ripper and Drusilla) dropped their jaw in awe. 

"Okay, judges, what do you say?"

The cards returned. Joyce and Jenny gave a ten while The Mayor gave a nine.

"Spectacular! That's twenty-nine out of thirty. Clear winners of immunity!" he shouted, passing them the statue of himself. They cheered, genuinely glad to win, and all mobbed Tara with a hug. She blushed.

"All right, Provost tribe. Tribal council is in a few hours, so you can either go back to camp for a while, or you can just stay here. It's up to you. The Jeff Tribe! I'll see you two nights from now right here for the next reward challenge! Check your mail bag for details." Jeff smiled and walked away.

Faith was the only one who noticed that the judges had completely disappeared.


	13. Episode I, Part XII: Tribal Council

**LATER…**

Angel returned after a futile round of hunting to find everyone else seated on a small set of bleachers. "When did this happen?" he asked after sitting down.

"We're not really sure," Anya chirped. "We were talking over there someplace, and we turned around and they were here. I think they just… found their way."

Jeff walked in and sat down in a chair. "Well, Provost tribe," he said grimly. "Grab a torch, light it, and take a seat again." Once everyone had complied, he cleared his throat. "How was your first three nights?"

"Weird," Riley said. "This island is freaking wrong. There are so many things that happen here that shouldn't."

"Like what?" Jeff asked, apparently concerned.

"Like I'm not a vampire," Angel provided. "I feel just like a human with a keen sense of smell and a smaller supply of food than the rest of them."

"And the fruit bite," Willow said, suddenly remembering that she had to give her research to Angel.

"Yeah," Cordelia proclaimed. "And Giles is always Mr. Stuffy, but now he's a real rebel. He's mean, and strong, and Angel thinks he's part demon."

Angel winced. Ripper exploded. "I bloody am not part demon!"

"Okay, okay. Settle down," Jeff said. "Willow, how did the reward feel?"

"Good, but… apparently I missed a lot."

"Did it change your perspective on what it's like back at your tribe?"

"That's a difficult question to answer, mostly because I haven't been back. I've only been there for one day. I'm well fed, and these guys aren't. I feel really badly about it, actually," she finished.

Jeff nodded. "Faith. What's it like to be a Slayer in the jungle?"

"Easier, I guess," she admitted. "People like Cordelia and Riley don't have it quite as good as me. I heal quick and I can go longer without food."

Jeff nodded. "All right, it's time to vote. You'll all go up to the podium and write down the person you want gone, and state your reasons. The person voted off will be jetted off the island as soon as the sun's up (if it's a vampire, don't worry; it'll be a dark jet) and brought back to America without the slightest recollection of this event."

"What?!" most of the tribe proclaimed.

"Well, I'm exaggerating. Your memories will be faded to the point where you won't be able to decipher the reality of your Survivor experience; you won't be able to tell if it happened, or if it was a dream. You'll most likely dismiss it as dream, actually; it'll be really fuzzy."

A new revelation hit Angel. He looked up at Ripper to see if he'd gotten it too, but he was too busy scowling at Jeff in extreme dislike to be paying attention to a single word he was saying.

"All right. Angel, you were team leader; why don't you go first."

---

Anya, the last to vote, finally sat down. Jeff went to "tally the votes" and came back with an undecipherable facial expression.

He opened the strange container they'd put their papers in and drew out the first. He read it, turned it around dramatically and said, "First vote Drusilla.

"Second vote Drusilla.

"Third vote Ripper.

"Fourth vote Angel. That's two votes Drusilla, one vote Ripper and one vote Angel.

"Fifth vote Drusilla.

"Sixth vote Drusilla."

Jeff cleared his throat and stared at the seventh paper for a long time. "First person to be voted out of _Nocturnal Survivor: BtVS_… Drusilla."

Drusilla squealed and picked up her friend the beetle as freaky music filled the air. The entire tribe (except for Drusilla) looked around for the source of the music but didn't find it. Drusilla grabbed her torch and hopped her way over to Jeff. "Drusilla…" he said solemnly, "The tribe has spoken." He took a funny hat thing and put out her torch. When he took it away, Drusilla stared at the final embers of the flame until someone escorted her away. 

Jeff turned to the rest. "All right, Provost tribe. It's been a long day and I bet you have some things to discuss amongst yourselves. Take your torches back to camp, and I'll see you in two days. Goodnight." He watched as they filed solemnly out, Willow and Angel lagging slightly behind as they wished to speak with one another. Finally they all left and Jeff grinned into the darkness: "Sleep well. You'll want to be rested for what I have coming."

---

_I'm voting for Drusilla because she wants to go, and because everyone else wants her gone. She's a pain in the ass, really, and hiding with her during the day was probably the equivalent to the fourth level of hell for me. I would vote for Ripper, but I think Riley has the right idea; we can deal with him a while longer. Besides, he deserves the money while Drusilla really doesn't._

_Drusilla gets my vote, mostly because Angel told me to. You know, he might be a vampire who has the potential to go extremely evil and start slaughtering us at every turn, but he's a good leader. I remember back when I thought he was just soooo hot, but he kept going over to Buffy and I thought that maybe he was slow or something, but she turned out to be a Slayer and he turned out to be a vampire, so… no, actually, I can't think of a way to finish that sentence that would make any kind of sense to me._

_Angel's a great ponce. He wanted to vote me off, so I'm voting him off. Burke._

_I'm voting for Giles. I hate to do it, but the way I hear it, he's been kind of… cranky. I think he needs to go; I've heard the things he says and this island is doing him no good at all. I love Giles, but I don't love Ripper, and I think he probably needs to go home to be Giles._

_Drusilla's gone. She whines and does nothing. What's the point of having her on the tribe if she's not gonna do anything? I'd rather stake her than send her home, but whatever. 'Slong as she's gone._

_I'm sure Drusilla was a nice girl once, but now she's insane and not doing much. Faith and I discussed it at length while we were waiting for Giles to wake up, and she's right; no use having someone as strong as a vampire on the tribe if she doesn't do anything. Besides, Angel, despite the fact that I really don't like him, has a point. If she wants to go home, let's send her home. Everyone wins._

_Miss Poodle wants to go home. The man said that we send who we want home, so I vote for Miss Poodle._

_I agree with Angel, despite his unseemly brow and drooping hair. Drusilla needs to go home. She does a great deal of nothing. If I thought that was an option, I'd have done nothing a while ago. But I like money, and I intend to get money if I have to kill everyone else on both tribes. Well, except for Xander. He can have some of my money. Not a lot, though. Just some. _


	14. Episode II, Part I

**STILL NIGHT THREE**

Tara was smiling as she and the others of her tribe wandered into camp. She'd received a loud round of applause, both for her singing and her co-songwriting abilities. Almost all of them had pitched in on some aspects of the song, but it was agreed that Tara's singing had simply made it. First waking up with Willow, and now going to sleep with a whole lot of confidence…

Waking up with Willow. This brought back the issue of what Willow had seen, and why she had seen anything at all. Willow was never a reader. She still isn't, and to the best of Tara's knowledge of the future, she wouldn't ever be. This led Tara to the conclusion that Willow had reverse-remembered; she knew why Tara was no longer in Willow's life after a while. And judging by the awkwardness of Willow after the fact, it was probably not a pleasant experience.

Oz had gone off and become all wolfy again, but Kennedy was around. She wasn't looking very happy, but then no one really was; they'd won immunity, sure, but none of them wanted to be there. The million dollars was a plus, but was staying there for another month a good thing or a setback? Tara wanted to say something to Kennedy and Oz, just to let them know that nothing had happened and that they could rest assured that Willow was fair game here.

…Um. Maybe she didn't want to let them know that.

Buffy and Spike were deep in conversation, standing by the beach. They were spending a significant amount of time together. It was understandable that they would get along, now that Spike had a soul; they had quite a bit in common. They were both superstrong, both very intelligent, and both endlessly attracted to one another for some reason. They had hung back from the rest of the pack as they had wandered back from the challenge arena. Xander had been fighting with the idea the entire time, and turned back more than once only to open his mouth, close it again, and storm off, disgusted with himself for caring and for lacking the courage to care properly.

Now they were discussing the future/past. They both knew what was going to happen, but it hadn't happened yet in their timeline.

"I don't know, Spike," Buffy sighed exasperatedly.

"I'm not trying to push you into an answer, love, but it's been on my mind."

"I know. Mine too."

"No it hasn't, but thanks for saying."

"Well, there you go again. You're putting words in my mouth. That's what you did. Or… are going to do. That's what you'll say. And I'll have to run away and not argue with you because you're busy saving me. …Uh, the world."

"I'm not putting words in your mouth. I can read you. I watch, remember?"

"If you can read me so well, then why are you asking me if I meant it?"

"Because I see the way you look at Angel all the time. You do love him, Buffy. It's in your eyes and in your heart and all over your sodding face, even when he's not around. But I only see a look of lust on you. When I'm around, your heart beats faster, but that's all I notice." Spike smirked. "Well, almost all I notice."

"See? Angel doesn't make crude comments like that."

"Admit it, Slayer, you enjoy the comments. You enjoy the stares. That much is clear even without your admission of it."

"Did I miss a page? When did this conversation stop being about us and become about… _us_?"

The fire in Spike's eyes receded and became the gentle spark that Buffy found she truly enjoyed. "Right. Sorry."

Buffy sighed. "Angel was my first love. Part of me will always love him. Every time I see him I instantly remember the time we spent together in each others' arms. That doesn't mean I'll always want him. He and I have this relationship that we'll never forfeit as long as we're alive. And maybe someday, if there's a way, we'll rekindle that relationship. That doesn't mean I'm incapable of falling in love with other people in the meantime."

"So you're saying that even if we did fall into a relationship, you'll likely leave me for him eventually anyway."

"Oh my God. What did I just say about putting words in my mouth? I said someday, Spike. And maybe. Did you not catch those variable words in there?"

"So it's possible that your current love isn't for him."

"Yes! Exactly. Thank God."

"So you do have love right now."

"Spike. Stop. Putting. Words. In. My. M—" Her words were abruptly cut off by a gentle kiss from the vampire. Buffy's breath caught in her throat and she simply stood, unsure of how to respond. After a second, Spike pulled away and waited patiently for Buffy to recover.

"You have to admit that there's something here beyond lust, Buffy."

"There is. There's something. I've never denied that. I just don't know if I love you."

Spike nodded slowly. "Then it's clear to me that you don't. If you did, you'd know." He glanced at the sky. "I'd better head out before I get all crispy-like. I'll check on the wolf before I turn in. See you later?"

Buffy nodded slowly and watched as Spike smiled at her and walked into the woods without a second glance. Knowing the future was complicated. Knowing the past was complicated. Buffy decided to call it even and say that the present was complicated enough. She trudged slowly up to the fire pit, around which everyone was sitting and pretending not to have been watching the best entertainment they had on the island: their very own soap program.

"Where's Wes?" Buffy asked as she sat down.

"We sent him and Xander off to get more firewood. They were both restless, and neither of them seemed very comfortable with watching… um…" Dawn stopped and tried to think up a cover story too late. "…the sky! For airplanes. To come rescue us," she finished lamely.

"Oh," Buffy said, not noticing Dawn's response. She looked around and saw that only she, Dawn, Tara and Kennedy were still here. The men were all off in the woods somewhere. As what Dawn had said sunk in, she realized that everyone had been watching her and Spike down by the ocean. This was partial annoyance and partial relief for Buffy, as she now felt free to ask for their opinion. "Um, guys… what do you think I should do?"

"About what?" Dawn asked innocently. Buffy rolled her eyes at her sister to let her know she wasn't _quite_ that stupid. Slow, maybe, but not stupid.

"Hey, you're asking the wrong crowd here," Kennedy pointed out. "Two lesbians and a seventeen year old who's never had a boyfriend."

"I have so!" Dawn said defensively.

"Who was alive?" Buffy asked.

"Well… no."

"And I find it appalling you call Justin a boyfriend. You made out with him before you killed him."

"That counts!"

"It does not."

"It pretty much sums up your relationship with Angel."

"It does not! …And it wasn't all in one day! Besides, Angel and I were much more epic than that. I loved Angel. And I stabbed him with a sword instead of letting him fall on a pencil I was holding."

"Are you dissing my dusting?"

"You're dissing my relationships!"

"You asked!"

And so on, and so on.

**DAY THREE**

"Got the mail," Faith's husky voice announced as the sun rose. The tribe had only just gotten back from council a half hour before; a quick meal seemed in order before they turned in for a few hours of sleep. Faith, restless from not being allowed to slay, decided to go for a run instead. She wanted so bad just to find Billy Idol and shove a stake through his chest, but instead she went for a _run_. It disgusted her, and yet she was somehow proud of herself.

"Good," came Angel's muffled voice. "What's it say?"

"Apparently the moron moved the reward challenge up to tonight because of scheduling problems." She gave a slight burst of laughter. "It actually says 'the moron' on here. Either old Jeff got a reality check, or the producers are getting as cheesed off as we are."

Angel grumbled something that Faith couldn't hear through the leaf. "What was that?"

"It's just… challenges take a lot of energy, and… there's nothing… really… to eat."

"The other tribe has boars," Willow added helpfully from the fire pit.

"What! That's pig! I can eat pig. Why don't we have pig?"

"We do," came Giles' soft voice from the woods. A boar was draped around his shoulders. His white muscle shirt was tattered in a lot of places, and his hair was pretty wild, but he was Giles. He looked around the beach and tried to place the vampire's voice. Giles smiled dimly, took the pointed silence for what it was, and dropped the boar in front of the leaf. He stood so that his shadow fell across most of Angel's hunched form. Angel's hand creeped out from under the leaf and brought the boar under his shelter. Rather unfortunate slurping noises promptly ensued. Willow and Faith made faces, while Giles simply pretended not to notice. "Where are the others?" he asked, still very quiet.

"Riley's swimming," Cordelia said immediately as she came out of the woods. She seemed very happy about the idea of Riley swimming. Or maybe it was the idea of Riley shirtless.

"And Anya went storming into the woods, rattling on about something. I didn't listen," Faith provided.

"Believe me, you didn't want to know," Willow muttered. Giles didn't react.

"Might I speak with Angel alone for a spell?" he asked, still in that strangely quiet monotone voice. The three girls exchanged looks and decided to wander down to the beach. Giles stared at the makeshift vampire shelter and looked pretty angry.

"You should have voted me off."

"It was discussed."

"Then why wasn't it done?"

"Because you're an asset, Giles. In case you haven't noticed, you're our only source of food right now. You catch fish. You even brought me food."

"I don't care. You're all in danger at night, you especially."

"I'll risk it."

"You shouldn't."

"Listen. Rupert and Ripper are not the same people anymore. You may have been at one time, but as it is now, one is always dormant while the other is dominant. I know exactly what that's like. No one here blames you for Ripper. When you walked in here, no one looked at you twice. We all knew you were Giles, and we all immediately respected you for it. I'm doing my best at keeping Ripper in check. As soon as he's struck, you get knocked unconscious. He does too. And then you're both out until morning. If I have to do that every night after challenges, I will. But right now, you're our most important asset. Ripper is, too. And Drusilla was exactly the opposite of that. She wanted to go. She _had_ to go."

Giles didn't say anything. He simply stood and fumed for a minute. He opened and closed his mouth once or twice. "This island is going to have some effect on you eventually. You won't always be able to keep me in check. And in the unlikely event that you get voted off before I, something terrible may happen. I don't want to risk that."

"Neither do I. But everyone on this tribe understands that if I go before you, we wouldn't be in a good place."

"And if you get dusted?"

"Unlikely."

"Oh, come, now. Aren't we being a bit blasé about this?"

Anya emerged from the woods just as Giles finished saying that. She looked from the ragged man to the empty space in front of him to which he seemed to be talking, and back to Giles. There only seemed to be a great green lump on the ground and little else. Anya tried to compute this for a few moments before walking down the beach toward the others and proclaiming, "I think Giles forgot to not be crazy again."

"I'm not being blasé," Angel continued without a beat. "This game is rigged so that it's impossible for me to be dusted. Otherwise it wouldn't be a fair competition. Three vampires equals three drops in ratings if they get dead. Even on the Creatures of the Night channel, no one wants to see vamps get dusted. If you're that worried, go ahead and try to quit. But think: do you really want to forfeit a chance at one million dollars?"

"If it means that the people I care about are in no danger, then yes."

"This island is beyond evil. You may end up being a protector. You're as good as team leader during the day when I can't be. We exchange. These people trust you way more than they trust me. They're more likely to listen to you in a tight spot. I want you on this tribe, Giles. Whether or not you stay is up to you."

Giles stood again. He had no reasonable argument to that. Eventually he forfeit trying to come up with one and sat down on the sand beside the gigantic leaf. Angel could sense the relief from the younger man.

"You put out a theory earlier about this island being in a time flux. What led you to that conclusion?" Angel asked delicately as the carcass of the boar slowly slid back out from under the leaf.

Giles frowned at the question. "We're all in different time frames, but we each remember bits of future time frames. Time also doesn't seem to pass at a reasonably constant speed. It all seems to add up to time flux."

"What if I suggested that we were in a dimensional flux instead?"

Giles frowned. "Essentially, that's what a time flux is."

"No. Not entirely. A time flux means we've been sent to another dimension and are experiencing it differently. A dimensional flux provides a temporary dimension that's identical to one already being in use, but has our subconsciousnesses from the dimension we're supposed to be in."

"You're suggesting that this dimension was created simply for our presence, and as we leave one by one, we take away from the energy of the dimension until it disappears completely."

"More or less."

"Now, now. There's a concept. How did you come up with that?"

"Something Jeff said."

Giles exhaled sharply. "That burke."

Angel grinned under the leaf. The two older men continued to talk in a much more friendly fashion than either of them thought possible; their hidden murderers brought them closer together as people, they supposed. Riley in particular was surprised that they got along, and he raised an eyebrow at them as he walked out of the water.

"Are they… like, getting along? Because that's just weird to me."

"It's okay. Giles lost his uncrazy, which gives him and Angel lots in common," Anya informed him.

Willow clucked her tongue. "Giles isn't crazy."

"Sure he is," Anya said offhandedly. "Have we not noticed the homicidal tendencies?"

"You killed people for a living. Does that make you crazy?" Riley asked.

"Depends on your point of view," Faith interjected. "I might not be the poster child for stability, but I'm not crazy with the torture and the mass murder." She frowned as she remembered her future. "Yet."

"Everyone has an inner murderer," Willow said quietly. She frowned. "I… didn't mean to say that."

"Hey, that's right. Red's got a future in the world of homicide, doesn't she?" Faith said, with a tone of impression in her voice.

"Well! It's not like I'll be sane or anything."

"And it's not like I wasn't evil," Anya interjected.

"And it's not like mine wasn't an accident," Faith admitted. "Though maybe the ones in the future might not be."

"Wow, this is a fun conversation," Cordelia said sarcastically.

Faith smiled slowly. "Not so fast, Cordy. You've got some contribution here, too."

Cordelia tried not to blush as she glanced at Riley. "I'll be possessed by a god, okay?"

"Am I seriously the only one in this tribe who hasn't killed anyone?"

"It would seem that way," Anya said happily.

"Unless there's something you ain't telling us, soldier boy, you're the only one with a clean slate."

Riley's eyes shifted. "Wow. This makes me… more than slightly uncomfortable."

"Don't worry. Ripper's the only one currently evil. Well, Faith is a little, but we're not worrying about that," Anya said, still chipper. She seemed to be quite enjoying this conversation.

But Willow was frowning. She seemed to be making a connection. "Okay, okay. Wait. So let's assume for a second that Riley will kill someone—sorry, Riley, it's just for the sake of argument. That would make everyone on this tribe a murderer, including… and especially… Drusilla. But what about the other tribe? Maybe this is a competition for people who kill people."

They all thought for a second, making a silent poll.

"Actually," Faith said slowly. "With the exception of Spike, they're all pretty… innocent in comparison. I mean, the Wesley keeping a chick in a cage thing is pretty kinky, and Oz killing another werewolf is something, but other than that they look like angels while we look like devils."

"They designed it that way," Willow said, understanding. "There's one huge exception on both sides. Riley's the good guy here, and Spike's the bad guy there, but other than that… we're pretty much split."

A pause. Finally, Faith decided to voice what they're all thinking: "Dude, that's fucked up." 


	15. Episode II, Part II

"Well, this is exciting! I don't think I've ever been in this part of the woods before." 

"Really."

"Yes! I must say, for a tropical island, it seems terribly strange that there are coniferous trees everywhere."

"Uh-huh."

"Though I suppose it's better for us. More dead logs. Less prickly to carry about. Though perhaps coconut trees would be lighter than fir trees. And perhaps a tad drier as well… likely burn far better than the samples we've collected."

"Far better."

Wesley peered around nervously as the trees thickened. There was suddenly significantly less light shining through. "This is an intriguing bit of woods. I wonder why the trees grow so much thicker here." He paused. "It's nothing a… a rogue demon hunter can't handle, but I do wonder… sometimes…" An owl seemed to hoot from above and Wesley jumped and clung to Xander's shoulder, who promptly dropped all his firewood.

"Here. Take this and go back to the others. I'll keep searching and see what I can see," Xander told him, giving him the firewood. Wesley dipped slightly under the weight of the pile but found his footing.

"Good plan!" Wesley said, turning and walking back the way he came. He stood for a second and considered which way they'd come. He promptly turned left, walked for a bit and realized it was the wrong way, grinning back at Xander as he passed. Xander raised his eyebrows at the extreme dorkishness of Wesley and continued forward.

The further Xander went into woods, the darker they became. He looked up and noticed that there was a total roof of branches above his head. If Spike hadn't already found a cave, Xander would probably have informed him of this area. _Oh God. Did I just consider being kind to Spike? This island must really be weird. First I'm jealous of him for being close to Buffy, which is a change from being disgusted beyond all measure about Spike, and from being over Buffy for a few years now. Now I'm potentially being considerate—_

Xander looked up and stopped dead in his tracks. He remained perfectly still and perfectly silent. A wave of light had just shone over the trees. He had seen each of them in detail for a moment, and then the darkness had been restored. He waited. Another shimmer passed. It was like a wave of light was coming from somewhere within the dark and was washing over the rest of the island from a central point. Xander started walking again, carefully, slowly, ignoring the voice at the back of his mind telling him to run in the other direction. More light passed. He was getting closer. He took another step— 

And disappeared completely from view as another wave passed over him.

**MEANWHILE…**

Oz jumped down from a tree with a boar in hand. Buffy scrunched her nose as Oz threw the meat by the fire and sat down beside her. "Sorry. I'll deal with it in a minute."

"Tired?" Buffy asked.

"Starting to be." He shook his head. "Look, I'm sorry I frightened you a couple nights ago."

"Don't be. I'm getting used to wolfy Oz."

"It's getting more intense because the full moon is four nights away. After it's over I think I'll settle down a bit."

"No worries. Did Spike find you?"

"No. Was he looking?"

"He said he was. Did you sense him in the woods at all?"

Oz thought for a moment. "It's hard to sense a vampire, but if I had I would have gone to him."

Buffy frowned. "Hm."

"Where are the others?" Oz asked.

"Down by the beach. Dawn went swimming."

Oz raised his eyebrows. "On this island?"

"Yeah. Tara and Kennedy are watching over her to make sure she doesn't get abducted by a giant squid or something."

"Good…" Oz was interrupted by Xander as he appeared right in front of them. "…plan."

Xander peered around, looking as though he was intensely concentrating on something. "Oh… kaaaay…"

"Hey Xand," Buffy said lightly, looking at him with raised eyebrows. "What's going on?"

"I… couldn't tell you."

"Oh. Okay."

"I… have to go back there now."

"Back where?"

"Again with the I couldn't tell you. I was looking for the source of the funny light, and I took a step and then I was here."

"Funny light?"

"Yeah. Like a wave or something, coming from the middle of the island and… whooshing across the rest of it. Look, I can't explain… you really have to see it to believe it."

Buffy glanced at Oz. "I guess we'd better go, then. Where's Wesley?"

Xander frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He was with you."

"No… I sent him back with the firewood at least a half hour before I was poofed."

Buffy looked worried. "He should have been back by now."

Oz glanced around. "I'll go get the others."

"Thanks," Buffy said distractedly. She realized that she didn't know where Spike was, either; if he hadn't been in the woods looking for Oz, there was no other real explanation for where he could be. That's two tribe members missing. Not a good sign.

Dawn, Tara and Kennedy joined the small circle. Dawn was soaking but looked a lot cooler than the rest of them. Buffy was jealous. "Okay, guys. We have two missing tribe members and a strange light occurrence to investigate. Dawn and Tara, stay here in case Wesley does eventually find his way back to camp. Kennedy, you and Oz go with Xander to figure this light thing out. I'm going to go look for Spike and Wesley in the woods. It's still morning; let's all meet back here in what feels like a few hours to regroup."

**MEANWHILE…**

"I'm bored," Cordelia whined.

"Then go find something to do," Faith answered annoyedly.

"There's nothing _to_ do!"

"Sure there is," Anya provided. "Go get firewood. Go find food, since Angel sucked all the blood out of what we had." 

"That sounds hard and stuff."

Faith blinked hard and set her jaw. "Excuse me, I'm just gonna go pitch the idea of voting Cordelia off to Angel."

"Okay, okay. Fine, I'll go. Geez." Cordelia got up off the sand and started walking towards the woods. "The least anyone could do was help me. Why should I have to go get food? It's not like I'm the least slackerish person on the island. Last time I went into the woods, killer bees chased me out and then almost made me drown. I think that would make anyone phobic…" Cordelia continued muttering to herself, but fortunately, no one else was within earshot.

**MEANWHILE…**

Buffy ascended the slope up to Spike's cave. He was stretched out along the far edge of the cave, shirt serving as a pillow.

"Oz didn't sense you in the woods," Buffy stated quietly as she entered.

"I didn't sense you either until you were two feet away," Spike responded without opening his eyes. "I looked. He was wolfing about someplace. The sun was coming up, so I came here." He turned his head and opened one eye to regard Buffy sleepily. "He's not a threat, really. Not yet. In a few days it might be another story."

"I know. I want to keep an eye on him anyway, though, and he wants me to keep an eye on him."

"Then why aren't you the one keeping an eye on him?"

"You know why."

"If you want something done right, you do it yourself, right?"

"I trust you." She said it without thinking. Spike sat up and looked directly at her. They remained in silence for a few minutes.

"That's a start, then," he said quietly, and lay back down.

"You sound tired."

"I am. Haven't slept well in a few days. I don't usually need sleep, but the challenges are draining."

"Sorry I woke you."

"I'm not."

Buffy cracked a dim smile. "Anyway. I've still got to go and find Wesley. He's missing. You haven't seen him or anything, have you?"

"No. Under normal circumstances I'd be able to tell you the general idea of where he is from here, but I can't sense a sodding thing."

"Oh well. Thanks anyway." She turned and started to walk from the cave.

"I can take care of myself, pet," he said quietly. She stopped in her tracks.

"I know."

"Then why did you come here before you went to look for Watcher Junior?"

Buffy didn't have an answer to that. Spike felt a change in the air around her and he realized that it was compassion. Usually that feeling, especially from her, was a lot stronger. He hated this island. "You've got to make a decision, Buffy. This island can't be for real; if we know the future, we'll get back home and try to change it. So make a decision. Either be with me or don't, but stop sending me mixed signals. I'm not sure I can take much more of it."

Buffy stood for a moment longer, and then continued down the hill. Spike smiled ever so slightly and rolled over. He fell asleep almost instantly.


	16. Episode II, Part III

"Okay," Xander muttered. "It was about here that it started getting super dark. Are either of you sensing anything?"

"I can't sense two feet in front of me on this island, Xand. We've only got our strength going for us here," Kennedy responded.

"I'm not getting anything," Oz replied. He could still smell. Not well, but it was something. The three of them crept forward into the increasing darkness. The further they went, the tenser Kennedy got.

"There's something seriously supernatural here," she whispered.

"Stop," Xander said, holding out an arm to stop them. They all stood stalk still and waited for a second. Then they noticed that the strange light in front of them was coming toward them. It washed over all of them without any effect, and continued to spread.

"This happens every few seconds?" Oz asked Xander.

"Maybe once every couple of minutes, tops."

"It didn't have any corporeal properties. It was just… light," Oz said.

"It wasn't just light. There is no way that was 'just light'," Kennedy countered. There was obvious nervousness in her voice. Even though she couldn't consciously sense anything, a siren in the back of her mind was going off.

"Should we keep going?" Oz asked. His voice showed that he really didn't want to. None of them wanted to.

"We know what happens when we do," Kennedy said. "Let's take off."

"No," Xander said. "Maybe it'll be different with more of us."

"Xander, you're not a Slayer. You have a different perception of this situation than I do. Let me tell you that whatever is making that light is pure evil."

"We'll meet pure evil. We'll beat it. This can be beaten too." Xander kept going forward, more confidently than he had the first time. Oz glanced at Kennedy and followed Xander. Kennedy, against her will, followed them both, keeping herself in a fighter's stance out of instinct.

Another wave of light passed. Kennedy was convinced she saw something in the trees and gasped, picking up a stick and tossing it abruptly into the trees. It hit a tree and fell to the ground. There was nothing. Starting to think that either she was paranoid or Xander and Oz were insane, she stayed where she was and decided to let them deal with it unless she was clearly needed.

She blinked and they were gone. Another wave of light washed over her. The same illusion presented itself; someone or something was standing in the shadows. With no one to back her up and the sheer number of alarms going off in her head telling her to get the hell out, she decided they were probably right and backed up for a few moments before turning and running back to camp.

**MEANWHILE…**

Buffy walked back to the beach. She'd searched as much of the forest as she could, but she was getting really hungry. She hoped Oz was back; he'd be able to stomach dealing with the boar way better than she could.

"Any luck?" Dawn asked her sister.

"I found Spike. Turns out Oz's senses were just on the fritz. Didn't see Wesley, though. No sign of him here?"

"Nope. No sign of anyone, actually. You'd think they'd be hungry by now. I know I am," she said, glancing at the pig and being unable to decide if she was disgusted or not. "Anyway, I got the mail. We've got a reward challenge tonight."

"What! That's three challenges in a row!"

"I know. I guess we could make some rice or something."

Buffy took the hint. "Tara, would you mind putting some on? I'll deal with the boar and cook it up after lunch. We'll have a big meal at dinner. I think we could all use some sleep in the interim anyway."

Kennedy ran from the forest, completely out of breath. She stopped at the sight of Buffy and explained wide-eyed. "That light is so wrong. So many internal alarms went off, and neither of the guys seemed to get any. I had to take off. I've gotta… go apologize…" she looked around. "Where are they?"

"What do you mean?"

"They disappeared. I assumed they'd reappear here. It's been, like, half an hour. They're not back yet?" She looked close to panic.

Dawn had been listening. She walked up to the Slayers. "It's just been Tara and me for the past few hours. You two have been the only ones to come back." She glanced at Buffy automatically. "Xander reappeared almost instantly the first time, didn't he?"

"The time frame fits. I thought it was instantly."

"Why are they taking so long this time?"

Buffy frowned. "I dunno. Maybe I should go check it out."

"Don't." Kennedy said, shaking her head fervently. "You don't want to. I think it's just a Slayer thing that we can sense something that evil, but it's not right. You don't want to go anywhere near it."

Buffy believed her. She'd never seen Kennedy freaked out at all before. Not with the Turok-Han even when she wasn't a Slayer, not in the battle with the First. If this was freaking her out, there was something extra-bad about this light thing. She slowly nodded.

"Okay. We'll give them another half an hour, but if they don't show up by then, I have to go look for them."

Kennedy sighed shakily. "Okay. Okay. But I'm not going back. Take a civilian with you to keep you grounded, because believe me, no amount of worry for your friends is going to keep you standing there. You'll want to take off."

Buffy nodded again and instructed Kennedy to sit down. As she turned around, she saw Xander and Oz appear out of thin air.

Both of them were screaming. Just as she'd never seen Kennedy freaked out, she'd never seen Oz obviously scared. Here, he was terrified.

They both stopped at once, looking pale and startled. Oz swayed on the spot and crouched down, supporting himself with one arm. Xander wheezed a couple of times and then ran over to a nearby bush and hurled up the few contents of his stomach.

Tara ran over to Xander as Buffy crouched by Oz with concern. He was still pale. "What happened?" she asked.

"Remember the feeling from the machine from the first challenge?" Buffy nodded. "Multiply that feeling by about a thousand." He shook his head. "We were being torn apart, piece by piece, for what felt like a very long time. We ended up back here totally unharmed, but… it's a humbling experience."

Buffy heard Xander's shaky voice in the background telling Tara he'd be okay. "Do you want to lie down for a while?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, but I'll be good right here. I'm definitely appreciating the sunlight right now." Oz shifted his weight with careful movements and was shortly lying on the sand, limbs splayed. He seemed to be relishing the use of them. Buffy shook her head and jogged over to help Tara support a weak-kneed Xander.

"Did this happen the first time?" Buffy asked him quietly.

Xander shook his head. "I was just transported the first time. None of this epic torture thing. It's like the first time was a warning, and the second time was the punishment. I'm just sorry Oz was involved." He stopped trying to walk and blinked hard. "Uhhgh. I think it's time to lie down now." Buffy and Tara lowered him down and he went all limp on the sand. Buffy noticed the incredible lack of colour in Xander's face. He looked dead. Angel and Spike may have been pale, but Xander was beyond ashen.

"You need some nutrition. Would you eat some rice?"

Xander winced. "I'm not so sure that's a good plan right now, Buff."

"You haven't eaten in a while, and what you have eaten is obviously no longer in your system. You need something. Just try a little bit, and if you're not feeling better, you don't have to eat any more, but I think it'll help."

Xander nodded and tried to steady his breathing, closing his eyes. Buffy glanced with concern at Tara, and noticed tears welling in her eyes as she looked at Xander. Buffy took her by the arm away from Xander. "He'll be okay. He's tough. Hasn't died yet."

"I'm not sure he will," she whispered. "When h-he was… throwing up…" she swallowed. "There was b-blood, Buffy. More than a little bit."

Buffy looked over at Xander as she heard him cough. It was very wet sounding. Dawn had had bronchitis one year, but she had sounded better than Xander did now. Oz was a werewolf, but Xander was just human. She hugged Tara consolingly as she watched Dawn run over to Xander with some water and help him up to drink it. "We'll fix him up, Tara. He's always been amazingly strong. If he had plans for dying, he'd have done it already." But even Buffy wasn't so sure anymore. He was in rough shape, but she'd still seen that ambition in his eyes. He wasn't done with the source of the light yet. He intended to go back. And that's what worried Buffy most of all.

**MEANWHILE…**

Riley glanced at the woods for what must have been the dozenth time in an hour. Finally he swallowed his pride and strode up to Angel's leaf. The sun was just starting to set.

"What is it, Finn?" Angel said exasperatedly. He was getting stir crazy.

"I thought you couldn't sense anything on the island."

"I felt the vibrations of your combat boots."

Riley sighed and bit back a retort. "I'd counter that, but there are more important issues at hand. Cordelia disappeared into the woods before noon and she isn't back yet."

Angel was completely silent for a second. He was remembering the future. "Did you look for her?"

"Not me personally. Faith did a sweep maybe an hour ago to no avail. I just thought you should know, especially judging by what happened last time she was in the woods alone."

Angel nodded under his shelter. "Thanks." As Riley walked away, Angel stuck a hand out into the sunlight. As expected, it promptly overheated and burst into flame. He brought it back beneath the shelter and winced. He'd thought maybe, since this was an alternate dimension, he'd be okay in the sunlight, but apparently it was worse here rather than better. He sighed frusteratedly and maneuvered himself so that he could waddle forward on his feet. He'd gone maybe a yard before he realized that he wouldn't get anywhere trying to find Cordelia this way. He sat back down and swore under his breath, waiting for the sun to go down.

Faith came up to him a few minutes later. "She ain't nowhere, Angel. I covered what ground I could, but there's no evidence of her being there. I followed footprints, but they just stop. I'm not sure there's much point in looking."

"There's always point," came his angry voice. "I'll find her."

"We've got a challenge in a couple hours anyway. We need to head out."

"You're not getting it."

"If we want any chance of winning this challenge, we need you on our side. We had a few spoonfuls of rice for lunch, Ange. We need whatever we can get."

At that moment, the sun set. Angel felt it. He threw the leaf off him and backed the Slayer against a tree, keeping a grip on her neck. "I don't care. I'll hunt for you if I have to. But not before or until I find Cordelia."

A look of anger crossed Faith's face as she batted the arm pinning her to the tree away and punched Angel abruptly across the face. "You've got prioritizing issues, bud. Cordelia's gotta be on this island somewhere, right? And we'll find her. Let's just beat this challenge first, and then I'm sure all of us will help you."

Angel backhanded Faith and sent her reeling. "You're still not getting it, Faith. I have to find her. This island is screwed up. You know it, and I know it. She could be anywhere, being held captive. We don't know. But I intend to find out. And I don't need your permission to try and save someone."

Faith turned back angrily and kicked Angel backwards, promptly grabbing his jacket and sending him toward the forest. Angel stepped up and took another swing at Faith, which she ducked easily and countered by bringing her foot around to make Angel trip. Angel kicked his way back up and delivered a sharp blow to her chin. She took the blow well and backflipped to her feet, throwing another punch Angel's way.

Willow ran up to the sparring pair holding a piece of bark. "Guys, stop it! Hey! Look, oh…" she trailed off, ducking out of the way as Angel ducked another of Faith's kicks. "More mail, okay? It's about the challenge… we have to find someone we lost."

Angel stopped paying attention to Faith immediately and allowed himself to get punched across the face. He grabbed her other incoming fist easily and brought her in, turning her around and holding her in place. "Finding Cordelia is the challenge."

"That's… um… what it says. At least, I think. Here," she said, stepping hesitantly forward. "Um, it says, 'A member each had gotten lost somewhere within the wood; We found them though, and so shall you, to ensure their livelihood.' "

"Let _go_," Faith said angrily, wrenching herself away from Angel and panting angrily while glaring at him.

Angel looked more broody than usual. "You're sure about this."

Willow raised her hands in a surrendering motion. "The bark says it, not me."

Angel nodded. "Let's go, then." He set off into the woods. The rest of the tribe, who had come running when they heard the fight, exchanged significant glances and followed the vampire into the forest. (Ripper only went because he wanted a million dollars.)  



	17. Episode II, Part IV

**NIGHT FOUR**

Buffy walked in first, supporting a still weak but no longer quite as ashen Xander. He'd eaten some rice, and that seemed to have helped. Wolfy Oz walked at the same pace as everyone else, but for a semi-werewolf, that was a pretty tame speed. Tara, Kennedy, Dawn and Spike followed hesitantly behind. Buffy took one look at Angel and winced. Obviously, he'd also gotten the message.

"Welcome, tribes," came the jovial voice from ahead of them. Almost everyone was ready to wring Jeff's neck. Angel was the only one who took action.

"Where's Cordelia."

Jeff scoff-laughed despite the hands around his neck. He forced Angel off him. "That's for you to find out. Both of your tribe members are hidden in the middle of these brick mazes," he said, turning and gesturing to the massive structures behind him. "Both mazes are exactly the same. It's only a matter of the route you choose. The first tribe to get to their teammate wins reward."

"What's reward?" Faith asked huskily.

"There are two parts. The first part of reward is a lovely selection of preserved fruits. Twenty-four cans of fruit, two for every day remaining as two separate tribes. The second part is the return of your tribemate in one piece."

"You wouldn't," Buffy said.

Jeff smiled. "This island isn't about giggles and kittens. I believe your friends Xander and Oz experienced that today. Either Cordelia or Wesley will soon do likewise." Jeff's smile flickered as Xander coughed heavily; he, too, heard the fluid sound of the cough and noticed the small amount of blood on his hand. "However, under the circumstances, the Jeff Tribe would be under a serious disadvantage if they had to lug an injured person with them, since you'll all be tied together and must remain so throughout the duration of the challenge. Xander may sit out. This evens the sides, in any case; six to a tribe."

Jeff grabbed ten pairs of cheap handcuffs and walked over to Buffy and Spike, handcuffing her right wrist to his left. Spike smirked and glanced at Buffy, who caught his eye momentarily and then looked immediately away. Jeff smiled. "Don't get the wrong idea. I get these back as soon as the challenge is over." He cuffed Spike's right wrist to Dawn, Dawn to Tara, Tara to Kennedy and Kennedy to Oz, who brought up the rear. Then he went to the other team and thought for a minute. "Faith, you're up front."

"I don't think so," Angel protested.

"See that? That's exactly why you can't be at the front. You'll get eager and might end up dragging your team behind you. This is a teamwork drill. Take the backseat. This is too personal for you." Jeff handcuffed Faith to Angel. "Besides, this will keep the order more or less equal on both sides. Slayer, vamp, human, human, third strongest, and half-demon at the back. Consistent. Equal chances. I'm not giving you the advantage just because you're in love with your teammate. I'm not _that_ evil."

Buffy's face snapped over to Angel's, who had looked at her guiltily at the same time to see if she'd picked up on that. So she never had known that he had loved Cordy. He'd wondered.

"Contestants, ready… go!"

-

Buffy gladly surged forward into the maze, trying not to fume. Momentarily, she realized she was going too fast and slowed up. This pace was more comfortable, and they moved along much more effectively.

-

Faith walked slowly, figuring that calm was the best way to go about this. She didn't want to rub Angel the wrong way. Besides, Ripper wasn't being the most co-operative person ever, and that slowed them down a bit.

-

Buffy reached a crossroads. She thought for a moment and then turned behind her. "Left or right?" she asked the others quietly.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Spike said. "Either one could hold the advantage. It's impossible to tell."

"No one's picking up anything?"

Spike and Oz both shook their heads.

"We're in the left-hand maze," Tara said quietly. "We didn't see how deep the maze is, but we did see that it extended pretty far left. If Wesley's in the middle of our maze, our chances would probably better if we went left."

Buffy nodded. "Left it is."

-

Faith stopped. "Left or right?"

"Buffy's going left," Angel replied sullenly. He was not loving being not the leader.

Faith turned the same way without consulting the others. "Hey. Shouldn't we be going in the opposite direction?" Willow asked.

"Nah. Keeps the competition fair. If they screw up, we've screwed up, too. If they're right, we're right. After a while we'll start deviating, but it's early days. A little competition won't hurt us now."

They continued onward. Soon they came to another crossroads. "Which way did they go?" Faith asked Angel, who was being surprisingly well-behaved.

"They haven't reached one. Or if they have they're being pretty quiet about it." He was gritting his teeth and wanted the discussion to end so he could get to Cordelia more quickly, but he wasn't in control.

"Damnit!" Anya said.

"What?" Faith asked.

"We went the wrong way. The mazes are mirrored. Theirs extended left as ours extended right. We essentially did go in the opposite direction."

"…Oh. Whoops."

"So do we go back?" asked Riley. "Or do we keep going this way?"

"If we did go back and did that side of the maze and it turned out to be wrong, we'd have to come all the way back here. If they're going in the wrong direction, they'll turn around and be back here before we'd have a chance to be," Anya said. She got confused glances. "Oh, nevermind. Just keep walking. We'll know soon enough anyway."

-

Both teams carried on. It turned out that Tara had been doing logic puzzles since she was fourteen and had pretty good reasoning for every decision she recommended. Eventually everyone else stopped making suggestions and just followed Tara's instructions every time they reached a fork in the road. Faith's team didn't reach a fork for a long time and they were just considering that they were indeed going the wrong way when they reached a possible five directions other than the one they'd just come from.

"Damnit."

Anya sighed. "Let's take the left branch. It worked for us before. If it's wrong, we'll come back here and take the next leftmost branch. Easy to remember."

"Why are you so good at this?" Riley asked incredulously.

"I think of everything in practical terms. It helps."

-

Back at the start of the maze, Xander sat and coughed every once in a while. Jeff stood, looking up at the sky and not doing anything in particular. Xander cleared his throat and attempted a casual tone of voice. "So… I found a dark part of the woods today—"

"I can't tell you what the light's all about," Jeff said.

"Why noooot?" Xander whined.

"Not my decision. I'm allowed to know of what's going on, but I'm not allowed to have any influence on the game. It might change the outcome of the game if I told you." He shrugged. "Besides, I might not even know anything about it."

"But… but…"

"Look. It's obvious you want to go back. But the consequences are not going to get any lighter. I, personally, with no affiliation with anyone else in the game, backstage or otherwise, advise you not to go back. You're more than a little worse for the wear. I doubt you'll be able to participate in tomorrow's game, either. If I was in your position, I'd forget all about it."

Xander watched Jeff curiously and got for the first time that he was just taking orders. It wasn't necessarily him that was evil—it might just be the producers.

-

Buffy was suddenly jerked backward. Both Spike and Oz had stopped and were sniffing the air.

"What?" she asked.

"Fear. Lots and lots of fear," Spike said. "Even with my lack of senses, it's impossible to miss this much terror. It smells like… the old days. When the four of us would traipse through Europe." No one needed clarification that he was referring to Drusilla, Darla and Angelus as his accomplices.

"It's Wesley," Oz growled. "He's just on the other side of this hedge."

"We're close," Kennedy said. Buffy nodded and walked a little faster in the direction they were going.

-

Faith led the way back through the total six-way crossing and turned left. They were on the second branch.

-

"So… you don't know anything?" Xander asked. "Nothing at all?"

Jeff sighed but didn't answer. He began twiddling his thumbs and hoped someone won soon.

"Is the light evil? Is it a life force? Is it keeping the dimension in tact?"

Nothing. He was pretending he couldn't hear anything.

-

Faith's team started in on their third branch.

-

Buffy's team ran into their third dead end in a row. There was only one remaining possibility on this side of the smell of fear. Buffy was resisting the urge to break into a jog.

-

"How does it send me back to the tribal headquarters? Is it a spell?" Xander kept asking, hoping to annoy Jeff into an answer.

"Look, you're basically playing twenty questions with yourself here," Jeff said. "I can't tell you anything, partially because I don't know anything, and partially because I'll be killed if I—" Jeff cut off abruptly. His eyes took on a quality of fear. He blinked hard and looked down. "No more questions, okay?"

-

Buffy's team reached the fourth dead end. "Shit," Buffy said. They stopped, temporarily out of options. Suddenly a noise, like wood breaking, was heard, followed by a distant squeal of delight.

"Provost team," came Jeff's distant voice. "Winners of reward!"

The blood drained from Buffy's face. She swallowed hard and tried to remember to breathe. Suddenly they were all back at the starting clearing, handcuff free. Cordelia was hugging Angel appreciatively. He looked monumentally relieved, among other things. Buffy's team was solemn. Xander didn't need to ask what happened as he limped over to Buffy and saw her expression.

"Provost Tribe, your canned goods should be at your camp when you arrive. I'll see both teams back here tomorrow night for the immunity challenge. You'll need to prepare yourself, so remember to check the mail in the morning to find out what you need to do. Sleep well; you'll need it." Jeff left the clearing before either tribe had a chance to. Neither tribe associated with the other as the Provost Tribe filed out.

Xander hugged Buffy, who had begun to cry. "Hey, hey. Listen." He held her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "I was talking to Jeff, and he said some pretty interesting things." Xander turned away to cough, but he sounded ever so slightly better. "I don't think Wesley's dead."

Buffy looked up. "He said the losing team wouldn't get their tribemate back in one piece."

"No, he said the winning team _would_. That doesn't mean we won't. I don't think Jeff's as evil as he lets on. He might be… controlled by a demon or something… it's hard to tell. But I don't think we should jump to conclusions." He put an arm around Buffy, mostly for his own physical support. "Let's get back to camp and we'll talk."

Buffy nodded slowly and helped limping Xander out of the circle. The rest of the tribe followed with the exception of Oz, who leaped into the nearest tree to fulfill his wild wolfiness for the night.

Soon Ripper was the only person left in the area. He peered around, chewing on his toothpick again, and referred to the Eyghon tattoo on his arm. He pulled what seemed to be an herbal compound of some kind from a container in the pocket of his jeans and started spreading it in a circle on the ground. He sat cross-legged in the middle and began chanting in a language that was clearly not English. Soon the compound lifted and began swirling around Ripper as he chanted. There was a black wind shortly added to the swirl, and soon Ripper had to shout over the noise of the small twister. He stopped chanting abruptly and looked straight up, eyes flaring. The black wind filed into Ripper's mouth. He flew backwards and ran into a nearby tree. He fell to the ground…

…and soon stood right back up again. He was taller, wider… his eyes had turned the deepest colour purple. His stature was different. The figure that stood was neither Giles nor Ripper.

Eyghon had returned.

* * *

**A/N:**_ That's actually all the completed chapters I have of this story for now. I'm halfway through one, so hopefully I'll be updating sooner rather than later, but they certainly won't be as frequent updates (though they weren't really that frequent to begin with). __The breaking in this chapter is weird. There weren't any breaks in it at all in the original document, and _I _was having trouble getting through it just reading it, so I figured choppiness was better than the "huh?" feeling that seemed to be left. __I'm sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger like this. Take care, everyone, and if you could review if you have a minute, I'd be much obliged. Thanks!_


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